Duel Shadows
by CenturionAfricanus
Summary: The Zero Reverse tore the known world apart, then rebuilding it with magic. Two outcasts live at opposite ends of this new world, both in suffering. Beaten down, robbed, and without friends, powered by the marks on their arms and the fire in their hearts, the two set out to stake their claim in the world, and maybe even save it along the way. YuseixAkiza
1. Chapter 1- the beginnings

**I don't own Yugioh 5Ds**

 **So this is one of my all-time favorite series of all time, and it has some extra memories attached to it that are driving me to write this story. It's a hodgepodge of ideas I've both read and come up with myself, now kick back, grab a snack, and let the show commence.**

 **3** **rd** **person POV (probably going to be the entire story like this.)**

History is a fickle thing, it goes as it wills, sometimes directed by fate, sometimes by gods. But the most noteworthy events are when man takes history in his own two hands and shapes it to his will.

It all started when the duel monsters card game hit its first big popularity swing. Duelists like Seto Kaiba and Pegasus were the big names of the age. Then came Yugi Moto. He was an average teen, but he dueled with all his heart, and with the heart of the cards. He defied all odds and saved the world, and in doing so, he showed the world the truth about the duel monsters game they loved so much. The spirits and magic were real, locked away in a realm of magic. As Yugi aged, he gained many titles, the most prominent being the King of the Games.

Before he died, Yugi died, he took a single student under his wing, someone who had just as much potential as he did when he was younger. His name was Jaden Yuki. Jaden was every bit as great as Yugi, he was clever, witty, and cool under pressure. After Yugi passed, Jaden took it upon himself to protect the world as Yugi once did. And boy, did the world need it. Jaden dueled hard, and in the end, he saved the world once again, but that's not all he did. He unlocked the gate between the realm of spirits and the realm of man. Now when dueling, the monsters were real, as was the damage, but cards were still key to the game.

Then an aspiring young scientist named Hakase Fudo noticed something about these duels, that every time a monster attacked, it let off an extraordinary amount of excess energy. He set out on a mission, to build a machine to harness this power to better the world. It worked. He called it the Ener-D reactor. It absorbed the energy from the duels and used it to power the city, but everything was not as it seemed. Mere days after the activation of the reactor, something went wrong. It went critical, becoming unstable. After a while, the reactor exploded and killed every person anywhere close to the reactor, and it also drove a chunk of the city away from the mainland, creating the Satellite.

But that was only the visible damage. The gate to the spirit world that Jaden had unlocked had been completely destroyed in the blast, letting magic flood into the world. Duels were no longer confined to duel disks and cards. It evolved. The monsters came into the world, disguising their true selves as sprites, but once bonded to a duelist, they could change their shape to be that of a human, and unleash their true form, brimming with magic and untold power. Humans could only bond with one duel monster, but the bond formed could rival anything thrown at it if it formed properly.

Humans also discovered they now possessed incredible magic themselves. Each person could use one of the six branches of magic, earth, water, fire, dark, light and wind. But it didn't stop there, those who were exceptionally strong learned their magic was stronger, different. Fire mages could turn their fire blue, or in rarer cases, summon hellfire. Earth mages could sometimes branch out to plants, and bend them to their will. Wind users could summon such a storm, they could start tornadoes and even lightning. Every special magic was different, and every duelist was different, but a new element was added to the most popular game of all time, and no one planned to stop dueling, just adapt to it.

While the reactor explosion was a terrible event, the world took it in stride, and a new project was commenced, spearheaded by Rex Goodwin. He set out to help anyone who was affected by Zero Reverse, to right the wrong, but he only helped those on the mainland, leaving those in Satellite to rot.

And so the story begins in the festering Satellite, with the boy had nothing.

That boy's name was Yusei, and he had lost everything.

He had long spikey black hair with gold streaks, his brow was covered in sweat from working under the sun for so long. He shouldered the wrench he was using on an old generator and flipped the switch. The engine hummed to life and a small building on the left light up. It was a small house with an attached garage, right on the water front. It would have been prime property at one point, but seeing it was the only building not in ruins for miles around, it wasn't exactly worth much anymore, it's sole inhabitant gave a long sigh and walked back into his house.

Inside the building was the blueprints for a duel runner, a vehicle that could be dueled from, designed with magic damage reducers and amplifiers and everything, but it was still only pieces on the ground, not yet having been constructed. One the other side of the room was a half wall with stools, a makeshift table, and beyond that was a small kitchen, only with scraps for food.

The only two rooms that led off were a small bathroom and an equally small bedroom, only holding a small bed and closet.

Yusei put the wrench down with other tools that were scattered around on the ground and brushed the blueprints off the couch before flopping down on it, closing his deep cerulean eyes and sighing.

What he wouldn't give to have his friends back by his side once again.

It had been almost a year now since their confrontation with the director of sector security, Rex Goodwin, who had, in one fell swoop, ruined his life. His entire life, he had lived in the Satellite, building what he could for a life, as many orphans had done at the time.

As he grew up, he made friends, brothers was the correct term. Kalin, Jack and Crow, all three would have taken a fireball for him at one time, but not anymore.

As the four of them confronted Rex Goodwin, having beaten every member of Sector Security sent their way, only to be torn apart in a matter of minutes.

Being orphans of the Zero Reverse, an event caused by the nefarious Hakase Fudo, an explosion so powerful it tore a chunk of New Domino city off of the mainland and turned it into an island wasteland for scraps and desperation, they had no idea who their parents were, but Goodwin knew.

He revealed to the four of them, and the entire Satellite that Yusei was the son of the crazed scientist who had doomed them to a life of hardship. Kalin lashed out, attempting to strike down the man who accused his best friend. Crow ran, he ran and never looked back. Jack was angry, he hated his life, he deserved to be king, but he stuck as a peasant, he wanted payback. And Yusei just stood there, the words just flowed through his brain over and over again while his partner defended him.

" _You say you want Satellite to be fixed Yusei, but you are the son of the man responsible, and since he is dead, the blame falls to you. You bear the responsibility for Zero Reverse and everything that came after."_

It all went downhill from there. Crow had never been seen again, Jack attacked Yusei and Kalin was blown through a wall by Goodwin's fire magic. He had been taken by Sector Security members that were nearby and was announced as executed.

The rest of Satellite was being broadcasted to by Goodwin, and in one fell swoop, Yusei fell from hero of the Satellite, to the most hated man in the Satellite. After Goodwin left, the rest of the people of Satellite forced Yusei into exile, forcing him to stay only in the far reaches of the Satellite, completely alone.

Then came the day, almost two years later, when Jack came to visit him for the first time, his first visitor since Goodwin ruined his life. They talked and Jack looked at the duel runner Yusei had built in his free time, it was nothing fancy, but it rode strong and worked perfectly. Both of their partners had gone out to practice, being dragons, it could get messy, so they moved far away.

After Jack had left, Yusei realized his partner, Stardust Dragon, who liked to be called Star, had yet to come home. Fearing the worst, Yusei set out on foot, intent on finding his only friend he had left. But he found nothing. When he returned home, he saw Jack sitting on the runner he had made, smirking.

The words Jack spoke next haunt Yusei to this day.

" _You took everything from, made me a peasant, now I'm taking what I deserve, kingship. Say goodbye to this runner, it's going to help me get to the top. And don't worry about how I'm getting to the city, I made a deal with Goodwin to get me in, and I bet you can guess what I gave him. Goodbye Yusei, I hope you rot here like the worthless trash you are."_

And with that, he took off into the night. And Yusei was left with nothing. No friends, no runner, no Star, and only hate to his name.

Yusei rolled off his couch, that was a month ago, and he was determined to save Star, no matter what it took. So he worked. He made friends with as many duel sprites as he could, and while he couldn't bond to any of them and unleash their true power, he had learned his own magic held a special secret. He was a wind magic user, but his magic was different, it shone silver in the sky when it blew, like the dragon he had as a partner. But that wasn't all. If he channeled his magic into any duel sprite, he could, for a short time, unleash their true form. It was an unheard of ability, and one he practice as much as he could.

It was all he had until he could find Star again.

 **So, that is the opening prompt, I have a storyline laid out, like I do for all my stories, but like both my other stories, I'm sure it's going to take turns from my plan at some point. It will be Yusei/Akiza. 100% unwavering from that pairing. Any other pairing is in the air. I have some ideas, but nothing definite.**

 **Warning to all those who want a fast update, my updating is sporadic and will take time until summer, still a student trying to pass here.**

 **Happy reading, I would love any and all reviews, even if you think it's stupid, I want to hear it**

 **Another thing, I do need to say, I was inspired to write this story when I read Dragon Pact, it's a great story, you should totally read it if this peaks your interest.**

 **-Centurion Africanus**


	2. Chapter 2- a black rose is born

**I don't own Yugioh 5Ds or any other Yugioh**

Deep in the bowels of the magic filled city, so bright and filled with life, was a girl. She sat against the wall in a dark alley. She had her knees curled into her chest, and she was sobbing.

Her name was Akiza, and she had lost everything.

In her youth, she was privileged, she had rich and loving parents and her duel magic was far above anyone else her age. At 5 she could hold her own against fully grown adult duelists.

But all that began to slip away when her father got a new job. Akiza fell victim to neglect. Both her parents found little time for her anymore, always off to the next dinner, the next senate meeting, the next something, there was always another something. By the time she was 6, she decided to do something about it.

She challenged her father to a competitive duel, no holds barred. To say her father was surprised would be an understatement, Akiza didn't even have a bonded duel spirit partner yet, but still wanted to fight.

And fight she did. Completely on her own, she defeated her father, an accomplished duelist and his partner. But that was where everything went wrong. During the fight, a fight that little Akiza poured her heart and soul into to try and reach her father, to get him to spend time with her, her arm started to glow, and something happened that wasn't supposed to. Her plant magic, already a feat in of itself, lashed out at not only her father's body, but at his mind as well.

Her father fell, his mind flaring in pain, his partner also fell to the same fate.

Her father's next words would scar Akiza forever,

" _Get away from me you freak, can't you see you destroy everything you touch. Can't you see you are a complete abomination, a witch, a monster!"_

Whether it was pain fueling his words or the truth, Akiza would never know, she was shipped out to Duel Battle Academy the next day.

While there, she focused solely on controlling her magic, reigning in whatever it was that hurt her father, but it wasn't enough. She became the terror of the Duel Academy. With every battle the instructors forced her to fight, someone would get hurt, mentally, and spend weeks recovering. With every victory, the hate for her grew, even the teachers grew to dislike her.

One day it became too much, so she ran. She ran back to the only place she had ever felt loved, accepted, home.

But when she got there, she was disturbed by what she saw. Her father, the kind and loving man who had taught her to duel with honor and pride, was using his dark magic to attack harmless duel spirit sprites, caging them, and shipping them away. Akiza saw the money exchange hands, she was completely sickened. She was only 10.

She followed the duel sprite smugglers and laid a trap for them at a tunnel. She took out the entire gang, destroying their minds in her anger. When the police got to the scene later, they found mindless gang members, destroyed trucks, and cages that had been pulled apart.

It was among these sprites that Akiza found her partner, a Black Rose Dragon who went by Nettle, all the duel sprites left and Akiza continued her journey, except she wasn't alone this time, she had Nettle, and together, they became the menace of the streets.

They targeted other rings like the first one, freeing captured duel sprites, and never losing. Akiza went on like this for a year, playing vigilante with her dragon, who acted as a father to her. Then she met them, the other like her, the other psychic duelists.

They accepted her in. Led by Sayer and his brother Dominic, they were a family, the family she always wanted, but that didn't last.

She and the other psychic duelists heard what was happening within the satellite, an uprising that needed director Goodwin himself to step in. By this point, Sayer had tied all the sprite kidnappings back to Goodwin, so using his absence as an opportunity, Sayer and Akiza broke into Goodwin's office to find the hard proof they would use to expose him to the public, but it was a trap, Goodwin hadn't left at all, just leaked the information to bring in the ones who were ruining his shipments so he could handle them himself.

Akiza and Sayer tried to fight him, but Goodwin was hiding a secret, he was also a psychic duelist, and a powerful one at that. He went into both of their minds and tried to dominate their minds, something Akiza didn't even know psychics could do.

She managed to weather Goodwin's mental assault, but Sayer wasn't so lucky. Goodwin completely took over his mind and forced him to turn on Akiza.

Akiza fought only to defend herself at first, but Goodwin provoked her, egged her on, and she snapped. She lashed out at Goodwin, striking to rip him to pieces with vines, but Goodwin was clever, he made Sayer jump in front of them, and Sayer received two razor sharp, thorn covered vines through the chest. He was dead before he hit the floor.

That was the moment Akiza felt her old life truly end. She gave a scream of rage and let the rage and sadness fill her. All plant life she had summoned throughout the battle blackened, but instead of withering, they bloomed further, pure black roses sprouting along them, instilling a sense of both beauty and terror.

Goodwin was forced to retreat as the rest of the psychic duelists stormed the building. Dominic found Akiza silently crying over Sayer's mutilated body, and he assumed the worst. His words scarred her as much as her father's had.

"You freak, he was my brother, your brother, all of ours brother. You don't deserve to live after a crime so serious, so let it be known that if we find you again, if you try and reach out to any psychic, I will find you and kill you myself."

And the Akiza fled, riding out of a hole in the wall on Nettle, crying her eyes out, she lost her brother, and now she was hunted by her own kind. Her father's word rang back to her. 'You're a witch, a monster!'

She steeled herself, if they want a witch fine, if they want a monster, I'll give them one." And on that day the Black Rose Witch was born with the sole purpose of making Goodwin's life hell.

At age 15, she was a legend in the streets, the Black Rose Witch was much more than an urban legend, and that she was violent, destructive and prone to tearing apart large parts of the city.

Akiza heard from Nettle, who had heard from some of the freed duel monsters on one of their rescue missions that Goodwin had actually left for the Satellite. So Akiza went back into the lion's den, and was successful this time.

She had only stolen a few files, but they were in a secret drawer, in a secret room, so she assumed they were important.

What she had stolen was the reports of Zero Reverse, and they were completely different to what had been released to the public. There was file upon file praising Hakase Fudo, claiming him to be a hero for saving over 100 lives by getting them away from the reactor quick enough, before dying himself in the explosion.

That wasn't the disturbing part though. On the list of high ranking leader of the project were two names that had never appeared on a public file before. Rex and Roman Goodwin.

Next to Rex Goodwin, it read alive, but next to Roman, it said dead. The scary part was, it had been crossed out.

Akiza stared at the papers, terrified of what she held. She had to keep fighting, to bring down Goodwin, or was it Goodwins, she wasn't sure anymore. So she fought. For two years she fought, then they caught her.

They over powered her with several hundred men, led by Goodwin himself. They were going to kill her, but Nettle had caused a large enough distraction that she managed to slip away, but they had her partner, the last thing she had left in to world.

So she found the farthest alley from the place of the crime and curled up and cried. She cried and cried, for she had lost everything.

They came for her the next morning, they put her on a boat and shipped her off to Satellite, then left her there to rot with the rest of the criminals and orphans of the Zero Reverse. She wanted to get back at Goodwin, she wanted so badly to go and get her revenge, but she was trapped on this desolate rock. If she wanted revenge, she would need help, which was impossible to get in the Satellite.

So she wandered, a broken soul in a broken world, left drifting, looking for someone to bring the real Akiza back.

 **Quick explanation, Duel sprites can talk with anyone mentally, once bonded only the bonded human can hear that duel spirit unless they have special spiritual powers. There are three forms a duel monster can take, sprite=weakest form only before bonding to a human, human form= only once bonded, usually out of battle, true form= battle form, need human partner and strong connection, highly powerful and dangerous.**

 **Any and all reviews are welcome, no matter what they are, I want to know thoughts**

 **Happy reading- Centurion Afrianus**


	3. Chapter 3- black rose in the satellite

**I don't own Yugioh**

 **3** **rd** **person POV**

Martha was a nun who looked after orphans. She was kind hearted and loved each and every child she looked after as her own. Suffice to say she sided with Yusei after Goodwin wrecked his life. Once every few months she would go to the edge of the wasteland, the destroyed city within Satellite where Yusei was in exile. Each and every time Martha saw him and his partner Star, they were sad, beaten down, but still fighting.

The Jack, who was really a sweet boy who just made a bad choice, added to Yusei's hell. Martha saw how defeated Yusei looked after that, he said he had a plan, that he was going to get out of Satellite and get Star back, but you could see they were empty words. Yusei was well and truly beaten.

Martha worried for her little boy each and every day, all he had for company was a bunch of duel sprites. Martha was determined to find a way to help Yusei, but she had no idea how. Must be how Yusei felt.

Martha was trying to come up with the right words to say to Yusei, the one magic phrase to snap him out of depression, but nothing came to mind. Martha sighed, she better get this food to Yusei or he would starve, she didn't even know if the boy ate what she brought.

She put on a coat and headed to the wasteland.

As she walked, she noticed something. The streets, normally filled with criminals and riffraff, were completely empty, and the building had dark vines running along them, with black roses blooming along them.

Martha didn't have to be a genius to know that something out of the norm had happened here. The kind of destruction on the streets equaled that of the Enforcers, the name Kalin, Crow, Jack, and Yusei had taken for themselves when they were throwing Sector Security out of Satellite. Someone powerful had done this, but the question was why.

Martha kept on walking, wary of the ever increasing plant life on the walls and streets. Then she found the epicenter of the jungle.

A large black rose, the size of a small house was in the middle of the street. All around it were the beaten bodies of countless criminals.

Martha checked the pulse on one and was relieved they were still alive. Anyone with this amount of power was strong enough to kill.

Martha made her way around the flower and saw something that surprised her on the other side. There was a girl. She looked to be 18, the same age as Yusei, and she was staring blankly at the giant rose.

Her eyes were what caught Martha's eyes, they looked shattered, broken, just like Yusei's. Beyond that, she looked like a normal girl. Sure she was a little disheveled, worn clothing and was a little dirty, but her short red hair looked well-groomed and the dark cape outfit looked to be mostly in one piece. Looking at this girl, the desperation in her eyes, the hopelessness on her face, Martha got an idea.

"Hey sweetie, what are you doing out here?" Martha asked as kindly as she could. The girl barely looked up at her, just a glance, but it was enough, Martha knew her plan would work.

"You shouldn't be out here sweetie, let me help you." Martha offered, holding an arm out to the girl, but she was hesitant to take her hand.

"Why would help me, you clearly see what I did." She asked Martha in a small voice.

"I had four boys once, they could do at least all this individually, but together, they were unstoppable, but that was so long ago." Martha told her in a soft voice, sitting next to the girl against the wall.

"What happened to them, you make it sound like something happened." Her voice was still small, but peaked with curiosity.

"They stood up to Sector Security here, they made life better for each and every person here. Then Goodwin came in, and tore them apart from the inside."

"Goodwin." The girl growled, not sounding fond of the snake of a man.

"Yes, in a matter of minutes and using only his words, he tore the four of them apart. One ran, one turned on another, one attacked Goodwin reckless in a rage and the last one was frozen. The teamwork they had won every battle with before fell apart." Martha recounted the sad story, the girls looked just as upset.

"What happened to the four of them?" she asked and Martha continued her story.

"One was caught by Sector Security, he was sentenced to execution without a trial. One disappeared, he hasn't been seen since that day. One was exiled, he lives in the farthest corner of Satellite now, completely abandoned, and the forth…" Martha choked up at what Jack had done, what had influenced her little Jackie to do something like he did.

"What did the last one do?" she asked, curiosity filling her voice.

"It's not my place, but he did something almost unforgiveable and if I ever see him again, he is getting the sternest talking to of his life." Martha grumbled and the girl giggled.

"So why are you out here, people who can do that don't just appear in Satellite?" Martha asked, gesturing to the giant rose.

"I was thrown out of my home, I tried to do good things, to help people and duel sprites, but Goodwin was behind it all, I managed to steal his most secret files, but he caught up with me and shipped me off here, he even took my partner, I have no idea where he is." The girl was crying again. Martha scooted closer and gave her a hug.

"There there. You'll see your partner again, you aren't alone anymore." Martha held the sobbing girl, who slowly stopped crying.

"I want more than that, I want payback on Goodwin, I want to take him off his throne of lies and make him feel all the pain he has brought on me and countless other people, but I have nothing, no one." Martha knew now her plan would work, she just needed to bring the pieces together.

"I have a question for you, if someone's parent did something unforgiveable and hurt a lot of people, would you hold it against their child, even if they were completely innocent?" The girl answered without a seconds pause

"Never, each person makes their own choices, I would never hold some one responsible for their predecessors."

"Good." Martha grinned, "Then I know someone who can help. He's one of the four boys I was telling you about, the one in exile. I'm on my way to bring him some food now if you want to meet him, I'm Martha by the way." Martha finally introduced herself and the girl gave her a smile, a real one.

"I'm Akiza." She said. And with that the two of them made their way towards the deepest part of Satellite, striking up a casual conversation all the way.

 **In the city.**

Jaden was tired.

Ever since Zero Reverse, his job protecting the world, both physical and spirit became 10 times harder, and at every turn, Rex Goodwin was trying to undo his hard work. When news first reached Jaden about the four boys who were driving Sector Security out of Satellite, he was intrigued, like something made him want to go and see these boys, it was the feeling Yugi had described to him, the call of a student to their teacher.

But Goodwin blocked his every move. He couldn't get into the Satellite, and when he finally made his way there, Goodwin had already taken care of the situation, by destroying them completely.

Or so he was told, Jaden looked into the happenings that day in the Satellite, and learned at least two were alive. One had run, the orange haired one had vanished off the map completely. The blonde one, was alive too, but Goodwin had him in his back pocket. One was confirmed dead, and the last had vanished, but everyone he had ever asked said he was dead.

But then why did he still feel the pull to the Satellite. Could it be the orange haired one, Crow, according to the reports. Or did the last boy survive against all odds.

Then there was the psychic war brewing in the streets. Their leader once had powerful light magic, but something had happened, he was convinced it was Goodwin, and that leader was found dead. Now the leader fought with ferocious ice powers, and without mercy.

Then there was the infamous Black Rose witch. She and her partner had torn large portions of the city apart, completely trashing entire blocks of skyscrapers, but hardly anyone was ever hurt, just those aligned with Goodwin. Jaden had felt the same pull towards her as he had to the Satellite rebellion. A second student. But Goodwin had beaten him to her as well.

He had captured her partner and told him she was dead, but Jaden knew otherwise. He felt the pull from Satellite twice as strong now. He knew he would find his students eventually, but he had to find a way around Goodwin first.

But there was one thing he needed to do first. Jaden made his way down a secret passage within the max security prison. This was where the most hardened criminals were held, each one with a mark on their face to mark them from society, another one of Goodwin's crooked schemes.

When he reached the end of the hall, both him and his partner Elemental Hero Neos, who simply went by Neos, reached a heavily barred iron door. Behind this door was something Goodwin didn't want anyone finding, him most of all.

"Break it down Neos." Jaden told his partner who immediately set to breaking down the steel door, doing so in less than 5 strikes.

What was within shocked Jaden to the point of speechlessness. There were only two duel monsters inside, but he could feel by the power that radiated off them, that they were no ordinary monsters.

The first was a large black dragon with dark red wings. It was chained and muzzled, trapped in a steel cage with metallic flooring. This was the black rose dragon, the monster of the Black rose witch.

The other was even more majestic if possible. It was almost entirely pure white, with shining blue and purple armor. Its face was pointed and regal. The power emanating off this monster could only be compared to one of the god cards he knew Yugi had. The chains keeping this dragon back were thicker and more in number than the black rose dragon. It noticed him and a low growl, but it was without heart, like the dragon had given in after a long fight.

"The intruder is this way, get him!" Jaden heard security behind him and gave a sigh. He manipulated him light magic around him, making him invisible to the human eye.

Now Jaden had a goal, he needed to free those dragons and find his students, because he could feel a darkness coming, he knew Yugi had felt the same before he found him, and Jaden had faced that darkness and saved the world.

A storm was coming, one he wasn't sure if the world could handle or not, but he knew one thing for sure, if the world was going to be saved, he needed to find the bonded of those two dragons, and he needed to do so quickly. Now all he needed was a plan.

 **No Yusei yet, but next chapter will be Yusei and Akiza meeting, that is either going to go really well, or really poorly. Jaden has a clever plan, but how will it work out… only time and my teachers assigning less homework will tell.**

 **Happy reading all reviews welcomed and encouraged**

 **-Centurion Africanus**


	4. Chapter 4- secrets shared, truth born

**I don't own Yugioh**

Yusei was working with several of his duel sprite friends. He had used his magic and brought them to full power so they could move the heavy pieces like the framework and engine. He had several of the smaller duel spirits looking for specific pieces like the wiring and data chips.

But the hardest part would be syncing his special magic through the duel runner. He had learned when working on his previous duel runner that standard magic amplifiers wouldn't work for him, there was something about his magic that was different than normal magic, and he had assumed it was normal.

Jack, Crow, and Kalin all had the same rare magic boost as he did, but he fried all normal magic amplifiers, used to make duel runner duels more exciting while the magic dampeners were used to prevent serious harm from hitting the duelists.

Yusei got all the parts back to his garage/house and got to work. He had more than enough parts for 3 or 4 duel runners, but he needed all the extra parts in case something broke while he was testing the engines and magic amplifiers and dampeners.

Yusei set to work on the frame, using a blow torch to weld off from the bulk of what was once a car. If he was going to get back at Jack and Goodwin, he would need to use every weapon in his arsenal, which meant he would need to get Star back.

Yusei continued his work until he felt his stomach grumble, he got up and went into the kitchen, followed by his duel sprite helpers, junk warrior and junk synchron.

Of course, he was completely out of food. Yusei remembered Martha was supposed to be coming around sometime today with food for the next few months for him, so he just set back to work. He gave a long sigh. The hunger wasn't anything new, on the contrary, he grew up on little food, just whatever Martha could give him and the others.

Yusei gave a sigh as he continued working. Why was he doing all this? It's not like it would make a difference. He was alone in his crusade against Goodwin. It would be different if he had his friends by his side, but he was alone, cripplingly alone.

He heard a knock on the door on the door, assuming it was Martha he called out, "Its open, as usual." And kept working. When he finished taking an exhaust pipe off the back end of a car, he rolled out from underneath the car, exhaust in hand and turned to thank Martha and get the update on Jack's rising fame, but the person facing him wasn't Martha.

It was a girl. A beautiful girl at that. She had short red hair and a strong figure, but what stood out were her eyes, they were a soft amber color, but that wasn't what Yusei noticed, it was how broken they looked, like she had gone through hell and come back with nothing, just like he had.

"I'm Akiza, I helped Martha carry your food." She introduced herself, holding out her hand.

"Yusei, it was nice of you to help Martha like that, she usually comes in struggling with bags of food for me, I don't know how she does it sometimes."

"Well she said she would find me a place to stay, so it was nothing." Akiza responded curtly.

"Well, I see you've met Akiza, Yusei." Martha interrupted the conversation, coming from the kitchen, holding some empty bags.

"Yeah, thanks for the food Martha, I can never say that enough." Yusei thanked Martha, but she brushed him off.

"Whether you still like to think so or not, you fixed Satellite, even if it was only for a little bit. And you're my boy, so I'll be damned before I let you starve."

"What are you building?" Akiza asked, looking at the mass of parts and frame work taking up most of the space in the little house.

"A new duel runner." Yusei answered.

"What happened to your old one?" Akiza asked, her curiosity once again getting the better of her.

"Stolen." Was all Yusei answered.

"Well, Yusei, could I have a word with you for a second, Akiza if you could just give us a moment." Martha cut in, dragging Yusei outside.

"Yusei, I need you to do me a favor, can you do that?" Martha asked him, dead serious

"Sure Martha, I'd always help you." Yusei answered.

And that's how he wound up agreeing to housing Akiza until Martha could find somewhere better.

"Well, I hope you like it here Akiza, because Yusei has agreed to let you stay here if you want." Martha announced as she marched back into Yusei's little home.

"Oh, ok, are you sure Yusei, I don't have the best track record." Akiza mumbled, looking at her feet.

"It's nothing, you can stay in my room, I'll crash on the couch, I do most nights anyway." Yusei waved her off, grabbing his blow torch again.

"Are you sure, I could just sleep on the couch." Akiza offered

"No, I work late and would keep you up." Yusei answered, as the two of them talked, Martha smiled, her plan was working perfectly. Who better to help someone who lost everything, than someone in the exact same position?

"Well, I'll let you two get settled, I'll be back next week with more food Yusei, take care until then." And with that Martha left, mentally cheering in victory.

"So what do you do around here?" Akiza asked, as Yusei got back to work.

"Work on building s duel runner, practice my magic, preparing." Yusei said from under a car, pulling out more pipes.

"Preparing for what." Akiza asked

"I'm not sure, but something big." Was all Yusei said, and that's all he knew. He didn't know how he was going to get out of Satellite, or what he would do once he was, but he knew he would do something.

"Do you have a spirit partner?" Akiza asked and Yusei rolled out from under the mostly disassembled car.

"How much did Martha tell you about me?" he asked, wary of the answer.

"She said you were one of the four people leading an uprising against Goodwin and Sector Security, that he did something, something to do with your family, and everyone left you, and you were exiled out here, despite being a good person yourself." Akiza answered and Yusei sighed, she had no idea who he was, he was grateful and nervous.

"Basically, but on top of that, my first runner was stolen by one of the people I called my brother, his name was Jack Atlas."

"I've heard of him, he beat the duel champion on his first try with barely any effort, and his runner is said to be the best runner ever made, are you saying he stole that from you?" Akiza asked and Yusei nodded.

"And that's not all, he also stole something much more important to me, on Goodwin's orders, he kidnapped my partner, Star." Yusei sighed and went into the kitchen to see what Martha had brought.

"Then I guess that makes two of us, Goodwin kidnapped my partner too, his name was Nettle." Akiza said with a sigh, Yusei looked at her with a new view, maybe she really had gone through things like he had.

"When you said earlier you were preparing, you meant you were preparing to get back at Goodwin, to save your partner, to escape this hell?" Akiza asked and Yusei gave her a nod as he bit into an apple and tossed on to Akiza, who caught it deftly.

"Pretty much, I just have no idea how I'm going to do it." Yusei answered, "I'm on my own against a veritable army."

"Well you're not alone anymore." Akiza told him, giving him a full smile

"Can you fight?" Yusei asked, skeptical of her claims

"You ever hear of the Black Rose Witch?" Akiza asked, letting some of her magic swirl on her palm, forming slowly.

"Everyone has, she's the most destructive single duelist in history." Yusei answered, surprised at the question.

"Well, I think its time Goodwin felt her wrath once again." She finished, the magic in her hand forming a perfect black rose that she tossed to Yusei, and he caught it.

"Well then, it seems Goodwin bit off much more than he could chew this time." Yusei answered, giving Akiza a smile to match her own. And for the first time in a long time for both of them, the light they once had returned to their eyes.

A few months flew by, and when Martha came back with more food, she was shocked with what she saw. The veritable disaster of parts that was in the main room last time had been refined to two base engines, each with red framework slowly developing around it. And working on one of them was Yusei and Akiza, working with a fluidity that would make a viewer think they had been working together for years instead of a single week.

"Hey Martha, just put the food in the kitchen, Akiza and I are just calibrating the engine." Yusei called as she walked in, several of Yusei's duel sprite friends helping her with bags, along with some new ones she hadn't seen around before.

"What with the new duel sprites, I've never seen some of these little guys?" Martha asked the hyper focused teens, Akiza answered this time.

"They're my friends, Yusei has his duel sprite helpers, and these little guys help me out." Akiza answered while using a towel to get some motor oil off her hands. Yusei closed the engine and gave Akiza a nod. She hit the ignition on the engine and it roared to life before settling on a strong hum.

"Perfect, now we just need to finish the framework." Yusei said sitting up looking at a dumbfounded Martha.

"And we need to completely build two magic control systems that will take the most time." Akiza chimed in, also getting up to face Martha.

"Care to walk me through whatever it is you're doing?" Martha asked, truly dumbfounded, she expected the two to get along, but this was ridiculous.

"We have a common goal, so we are working together to get it done." Akiza explained. She had dropped the black cloak and was wearing a pair of older jeans and a word red t-shirt with a rose graphic.

"And that goal is?" Martha asked, fearing she already knew the answer

"Justice, for all the people Goodwin has wronged." Yusei answered while putting the food away.

"Any important news from the city Martha?" Akiza asked, going and helping Yusei with the food.

"Goodwin has made a pact with the leader of the psychic duelists, and Jack still hasn't lost a match." Martha said, causing both Yusei and Akiza to growl.

"Good to know Martha." Akiza said before grabbing a welding torch and getting to work on the frame work of the duel runner whose engine they had just tested.

"Thanks Martha, for everything." Yusei said, grabbing a socket wrench off the floor, heading to the runner Akiza was working on.

"Well keep up the work you two, and one piece of advice, it isn't just the runner that needs to work, you should practice your magic together, taking on Goodwin will be no small feat, so cohesiveness will be a must, remember that, there needs to be no secrets.

Yusei and Akiza both glanced at the other with an uneasy, they both held secrets.

"Good luck two, I'll be by next week with more food, anything specific you want Akiza sweetie?" Martha asked in her happy tone.

"What you brought last week was fine, if you could get me some pajamas that would be nice." Akiza said and Martha gave a cheery nod.

"Of course sweetie." And with that she was gone, feeling better than she had in a long time, she had seen the light in both of their eyes, they were rebuilding each other, piece by piece.

Back with Yusei and Akiza, they were hard at work until the sun went down.

Yusei had a talent for cooking, so he had made Italian food (Ramen with Italian seasonings), and the two of them chowed down.

"I've been thinking about what Martha said." Yusei started, steeling his nerves.

"Which part?" Akiza asked, temporarily pushing her food aside.

"The part where we need to be a team, and we work together. I think that is a good idea, but to get that level of teamwork, there has to be no secrets, nothing we hide about ourselves. And then we need to practice, use our magic as one destructive force to send Goodwin packing." Yusei proposed his idea, scared out of his mind Akiza would leave him like the rest of the people he thought were his friends, his brothers. Only Kalin had stood by his side, and it got him killed.

"Okay Yusei, but I'm nervous, I landed out here for a reason, I just don't want you to hate me." Akiza said nervously.

"I'll go first, how much do you know about Zero Reverse Akiza?" Yusei asked, his nerves on a high.

"I know more than most." Akiza said, thinking back to the papers she had stolen from Goodwin that she kept secret in her room.

"Well the head Doctor of the project, Dr. Hakase Fudo, he was my dad. I carry the responsibility for Zero Reverse." Yusei exhaled, waiting for a response.

"I need to show

"I know more than most." Akiza said, thinking back to the papers she had stolen from Goodwin that she kept secret in her room.

"Well the head Doctor of the project, Dr. Hakase Fudo, he was my dad. I carry the responsibility for Zero Reverse." Yusei exhaled, waiting for a response.

"And…?" Akiza asked, waiting for the big part.

"Didn't you hear what I said, all the death, all the pain of each and every person here in Satellite is on me." Yusei was dumbfounded, here was the second person, the first being Martha, who didn't care about what his father did.

"I have something I need to show you Yusei." And Akiza walked into the little bedroom, and unearthed the file she had stolen from Goodwin.

"This belongs to you Yusei." She said and handed Yusei the file. Yusei read through the file and couldn't believe what he read. His dad wasn't the source of all the pain and misery, he was called a hero in the official reports.

But these reports had never reached the public, they were replaced by a different version, one sent out by Rex Goodwin.

"It was Goodwin, he changed the report, but why?" Yusei asked, awe in his voice, this file was proof that his dad was a hero, not the man responsible for the death of millions.

"I think Goodwin was the one who really caused Zero Reverse, not your dad, and then he got away and covered up the evidence." Akiza looked over Yusei's shoulder, reading along the sheets she had all but memorized.

"This is incredible, we need to take this to the authorities, prove Goodwin is the real villain." Yusei got excited, but Akiza brought him make down to Earth.

"Goodwin is the authorities, this is just another reason to bring him down, he killed your father and thousands of others." Akiza calmed him down, and then it was her turn.

"So do you remember any of the stories about the Black Rose Witch?" Akiza asked Yusei,

"Yeah, that she was a seriously powerful duelist who used earth magic refined into plant life. Her partner is a mighty dragon who obliterates any opponents in her path. She is the most destructive duelist in history. But I already know that's you, so why does that matter?" Yusei asked and Akiza steeled her nerves.

"You forgot one, that she allies herself with the psychic duelists. And I did for a while, because I am a psychic duelist, that's why I've never agreed to train with you, I don't want to hurt my only friend." Akiza said barely above a whisper, but Yusei still heard her.

"You would never hurt me, at least, never on purpose, I know that, you're my only friend too." And Yusei pulled her into a hug, both of them completely transparent with each other, and still standing strong against the world, as friends.

 **In the city.**

Jaden was stuck. He needed a way to not only find the two people he felt the pull towards in the Satellite, but also get them into the city and get them back their partners. But the question was how.

He was currently stuck in a board meeting with Director pain in the ass Goodwin and I'll never die I'm too stubborn Joey Wheeler and Abe Lincoln look alike Senator Izinski.

Goodwin's little puppet champion Jack Atlas was also in the room, standing off in a corner pretending he was superior to everyone else.

"Now that Jack is the new champion, he needs his first tournament." Goodwin argued, but Joey, who was nearing his 130th birthday, just rolled his eyes.

"That ass is just power, he has ne skill of technique, either of my students could beat his sorry ass." Joey complained, ignoring the dirty look Jack was giving him, but Joey's flippant attitude gave Jaden an idea, one that would help him complete his goals.

"Then how about we do have the tournament, and each of the four of us each enter two duelists, and the winner of those 8 duels Jack for the title. "Jaden pitched, and to his surprise, they all agreed with him.

"That is a good idea Jaden, especially since you basically yourself, all of us have either hired duelists or actual students, you interact more with spirits than with other duelists." Senator Izinski mocked him, but Jaden brushed him off.

"I have two I am looking into, I feel like they would be promising students, you know what I mean, right Joey?" Jaden asked him, subtly letting the elder duel master know who he was trying to find.

"Good for you then Jaden, but I have a quick question, one of my students was born in Satellite, should we open this to them as well?" Joey piped in, the glint of years of experience in manipulation shown in his eyes.

"A Satellite, of course Joey, its not like any of those weaklings can stand up to the duelists here in the city." Senator Izinski laughed, Goodwin went to interrupt him, but Jack jumped in to do it himself.

"I'm from Satellite you entitled prick, most of the duelists there could cream these city brats, duelists have balls in Satellite, here is nothing but snobby rich fat fools who think they know what they're doing." Jack barked in his face, causing the Senator's face to turn a shade resembling spoiled milk. Jaden had to try his best not to laugh, but a few small chuckles broke through.

"Well, that is enough for this meeting, we will all reconvene again in 3 months' time to begin the tournament, with our duelists."

"One thing, what are we going to call this tournament?" Joey asked as his assistant wheeled his wheelchair towards the door.

"The Fortune Cup." Jaden said, the name just coming into his head.

"Fine by me." Goodwin said and Senator Izinski and Joey nodded in affirmation.

And it became official, in three months' time, the Fortune cup would begin, and Jaden knew, deep in his heart, the Destiny of a new hero or heroes would begin.

 **So yeah, another chapter, the creative juices are really flowing. Yusei/Akiza relationship will be in full swing come the fortune cup. Just about all of the duelists in the fortune cup will be important, so be on the lookout for some serious battles.**

 **I time skipped a little, but simply because I wanted to skip over the whole, awkward get used to living with someone parts.**

 **Yes, I do plan on making Yusei and Akiza go dark, definitely for a while, maybe for longer, you'll just have to wait and see.**

 **Future chapters**

 **5: training, Jaden's plan**

 **6: Jaden's plan**

 **7: a surprise**

 **8: beginning of the fortune cup**

 **I love all the reviews I've been getting, absolutely fantastic. You guys all rock.**

 **Happy reading- Centurion Africanus.**


	5. Chapter 5- a false god?

I don't own Yugioh

"Are you sure you want to do this Yusei, it could go wrong, like really wrong?" Akiza asked nervously. After coming clean with each other, they agreed it would be best to start training to use their magic together, as well as separately. And of course, Yusei was insisting they duel each other first, to get a better picture of the other's power.

"It'll be fine Akiza. I can defend myself, and didn't you say Goodwin was also secretly psychic, if that's true, then I need as much practice as I can against a psychic duelist, so we can take him out." Yusei answered calmly, with 5 of his duel sprites circling around him, ready for battle.

"Alright Yusei, I'll give it everything I've got." Akiza answered, letting her magic flow from her into the ground, her plant life beginning to grow up around her.

"Good." Yusei said, letting his silver wind magic flow around him, before he directed most of it into one of his sprites. The sprite began to grow and change. When it was fully transformed, it looked like a green beetle, but it stood up like a human. It had metal bits of armor scattered around it's body, and its fists were bigger than a person.

"GO Nitro Warrior!" Yusei called out, directing Nitro warrior towards Akiza, who smirked in response. Akiza collected her magic she had spread through the plant life and clumped it together, forming a spiked vine barrier in front of her.

When Nitro warrior hit the barrier, it held for a second, but Nitro Warrior boosted himself and smashed his way through the barrier. Akiza was stunned for a second, but she regained her composure, and faced the still charging Nitro warrior.

Akiza summoned more vines and began wrapping them around nitro warrior, slowing his progress and squeezing him like a snake. Nitro warrior gave a roar of pain when the vines tightened around him. Akiza was about to finish him off, when she was blown clean off her feet by a blast of silver wind.

She had been so focused on Nitro warrior she had forgotten about Yusei, a crucial mistake. Now Yusei had two more metal monsters by his side. The first was one Akiza saw helping Yusei regularly, Junk Warrior, with its purple armor and tan body structure, there was no mistaking it. The other monster was bright orange, wielding a large bow. It's one metallic eye looked more like a rifle scope than an eye.

"Go junk archer and junk warrior, give nitro warrior a hand in there!" Yusei called to his monsters and they too leapt into the fray.

This was how Yusei kept fighting to his advantage, in a one on one duel, most people only fought with one monster, Yusei could summon a veritable army of them. That was Yusei's advantage, time to use hers. She could feel the seeds she had planted early in the battle winding their way underground, so she brought them to light.

A newly freed nitro warrior, along with his two companions descended on Akiza, she gave a cry and the whole field exploded into a thorny jungle. All three warrior stopped their approach, unsure as to what was going on. Just what Akiza wanted. She summoned more vines and lashed out at junk archer from behind, incapitating him, before dragging him away from his companions to finish him off.

"Destroy the jungle!" Yusei called to his monsters while sending fierce blasts of wind around the field, effectively uprooting parts of her garden.

Akiza grinned, Yusei was falling right into her trap.

As junk warrior attacked a part of her garden, an explosion ripped through junk warrior, sending him back to Yusei as a sprite, defeated.

"What was that?" Yusei called to Akiza after calling Nitro warrior back.

"Our monsters were once cards correct, but what few people know is our magic also came from those same cards. So I researched the spell and trap cards used by our predecessors, and found a few tricks to use in battle, that was rose bomb." Akiza answered, a huge smile never leaving her face

"That's genius Akiza!" Yusei complimented her, letting more magic flow around him. "But let's see how your card magic stands up to my two best monsters!" Yusei let off more magic than Akiza had ever seen anyone use at once before and Yusei's two remaining duel sprites started to glow and grow.

"Rise, Junk Destroyer and Road Warrior!" Yusei called as the glow faded, leaving two huge junk monsters on their place.

Junk Destroyer wore black steel armor and had what looked like helicopter blades on his back. The red accents on his armor were a deep red, and his eyes glowed with destructive power.

Road warrior was even bigger. He was sleeker and stream lined than the bulky junk destroyer. Road warrior was coated in a gold armor that shone in the sunlight. They were quite the intimidating duo, Akiza was actually concerned, she knew Yusei and his partner were more powerful than both of these behemoths, so how powerful did that make him?

"Go, tear the black garden to shreds!" Yusei called our and the two metal monstrosities went to work shredding her garden. Junk Destroyed was the first to find a second rose bomb, but it hardly affected him, Akiza knew she had to even the playing field somehow, and she had an idea.

"Go, form together, and strike!" Akiza called to what was left of her garden. The vines jumped off the walls and buildings and came together to form a large stem. From that stem bloomed a black rose, her calling card in the old days, and it bloomed into a large creature, one Akiza controlled like a puppet.

"Meet Rose tentacles Yusei." Akiza called from one of Rose tentacles many long appendages, but Yusei had vanished, all three of his remaining monsters were surrounding her rose tentacles, but Yusei himself was nowhere in sight.

"Most impressive, using your magic to make a puppet monster, I have to hand it to you Akiza, the black rose witch certainly living up to expectations." Akiza heard Yusei's voice call to her, from above her.

Floating some 30 feet off the ground was Yusei, he was using his wind magic to fly.

"Glad I impress you, but I have to say, for an enforcer, you seem to be falling a little short." Akiza teased,

"We'll see about that Akiza, tear that monster down, go Nitro warrior, Junk destroyer, and Road warrior!" Yusei called down to his monsters before flying into the fray himself.

Akiza tried her hardest to defend herself from the four way barrage, but Yusei was slowly overwhelming her, whether it was Junk destroyer ripping off her Rose Tentacles limbs or Yusei himself zipping by and knocking her over with a blast of harsh wind.

Akiza eventually managed to take out Nitro warrior and Road warrior, but her rose tentacles was torn to pieces and Junk destroyed was still going strong, not to mention Yusei still looked fit as a fiddle where as she had a few cuts across her arms from some of Yusei's wind blasts, who would have thought wind could be used like a knife like that.

"Come on Akiza, I know you can do better, just picture yourself fighting Goodwin again, use everything you've got we need to know the full extent of each other's powers, so we can fight as one, to bring Goodwin down!" Yusei called to Akiza, and she met his challenge in full.

Akiza gave a cry of fury and lashed out, with more ferocity than any of her attacks. She was Akiza, the terror of the duel battle academy, she was the black rose witch, the destroyer of the city and the eternal thorn in Goodwin's side, she wouldn't be beaten this easily.

She took out Junk destroyer with ease and pointed her attack on Yusei. He zipped in and out of her strikes with surgical precision, she could see his mass intelligence in the fight. It invigorated her.

Akiza gave one final cry and struck at Yusei with all her strength. She felt a burning on her right fore arm, but she ignored it. Yusei met her charge head on with one of his own, striking full of force and precision.

When their strikes collided, a crimson explosion ripped through the sky. A loud screech, like a dragon being awoken came from somewhere, roaring loud and clear through all of Satellite and New Domino City. Most passed it off as just hearing thing, but others had an idea to what it was, and it terrified them.

When the dust cleared, both Yusei and Akiza had their blows inches from the others head, as well as an array of cuts and bruises that would take some time to heal, but both had broad smiles on their faces.

"Looks like a draw." Yusei said, pulling his blow back and letting his magic dispel, Akiza did the same.

"Looks like it, is your head okay, I got you pretty good out there?" Akiza asked, worried she had lost control over her psychic powers.

"I'm fine, no pain at all." Yusei said, rubbing his hair with his left arm arm, and Akiza noticed the glowing mark on his arm for the first time.

"Yusei your arm, its glowing!" she cried and Yusei quickly pulled his glove off and looked at the glowing mark on his arm. It was shaped like a dragon's head, and it glowed with a fierce crimson light.

"Where, where did this come from?" Yusei cried in shock, then he noticed Akiza's arm had the same thing

"Akiza, there's one on your arm too!" Yusei pointed to it with his non glowing arm, and it was true, Akiza's arm was glowing with the same crimson light. The mark on her arm was different, instead of being shaped like a head, her mark was shaped like a claw, poised and ready to strike.

"What the hell!" Akiza cried in shock, stumbling back in surprise.

" **Calm yourselves my children."** A deep and bodiless voice rang through their heads, it was ancient and powerful, but it didn't seem to have malicious intent.

"Who the hell are you and what did you do to our arms?" Yusei shouted at whatever voice was inside his and Akiza's head.

" **Calm my young signer, I have done nothing, you have awoken a power deep within you, one I granted to each of you at birth. You have awoken your signs."** The deep voice said, leaving Akiza and Yusei just as confused.

"What are they and why do we have them?" Akiza asked, concern deep in her voice.

" **Let me start in the beginning. There was a war in ancient days, the shadows vs the light. I was the leader of the side of light, leading my 6 dragon servants into battle against the shadows. We won that battle, but the price was costly. It was that battle that sealed the spirit world off from the world of humans. And now that the gate had been reopened, that war is coming again."** The voice was calm and even, but Yusei and Akiza couldn't help but be afraid, war was coming, a war with the very shadows themselves.

"Well what does that have to do with us?" Yusei asked the still hidden voice

" **It wasn't just my dragon servants fighting, but their partners as well. As time passed, each of those 6 partners of my dragons was reborn into countless bodies, but this generation is the first to have them all in the same place, or they were at least. And this is also the generation in which war will come again, so I have blessed each partner of my dragon servants with a piece of my sign, and when all six of you come together, I can be summoned from the great beyond to finish the war against the shadows once and for all."** The voice said

"So the two of us, and four people we have never met before, are supposed to combine our powers, fight a shadow army, then summon you to take out their leader, is that right?" Akiza asked in an accusing tone.

" **Correct, and you both are using the gifts I have given you well, the ability to bring any duel monster to its true power as well as a complete protection from attacks of the mind."** The voice said referring to Yusei **"And the strongest mind powers in existence."** It said, referring to Akiza.

"So it was you, you who gave me the power that ruined my life, well I don't want it, take this stupid power back and find someone else, you can take your war and shove it up your pompous ass, after what both of us have been through, neither of us want your war, just justice and revenge." Akiza shouted at the voice, Yusei standing by her side.

" **Whether you choose to fight or not is your choice, but the war will come, and without the two of you, it will go sideways, and the shadows will consume the world."** The voice was gentle, yet manipulative.

"We already live in the shadows, so go screw yourself and never contact us again." Yusei called out to the voice, and the presence of the voice vanished. Akiza broke down crying.

"All this time I was called freak, all the pain I've been through, it's because of that thing." She growled, holding her fading mark, but it left a tattoo like impression on her skin, Yusei's did the same thing.

"We'll get our justice Akiza, on Jack, on Dominic, on Goodwin, then we can get justice on this false god." Yusei comforted her with a gentle hug. Akiza snuggled closer into Yusei's jacket, and she fell asleep.

Yusei gave a sigh as he carefully lifted Akiza back to their little house. He would need to treat both of their wounds before going to sleep himself. He may be immune to Akiza's psychic attacks, another 'gift' from the false god, but her vines seriously sting.

He got Akiza home safely and laid her down on the small bed. He used bandages and disinfectant to carefully wrap her wounds before doing so on his own. He gave one last glance at Akiza before leaving the small bedroom. His initial opinion if her never changed, he still thought she was beautiful, but she was so much more than that now. She was the one who helped him when he was down, she was his everything now.

He absolutely adored her and would do anything to protect his best friend. His best friend who he loved with all his heart but was scared to admit it to her because he would lose all he had left in the world.

Little did he know that Akiza felt the exact same way.

 **In the city**

Joey almost burst out laughing when he heard Jaden's plan. He knew that Jaden had been looking into duelists in the satellite for his student, which is why he had discreetly gotten Goodwin to allow Jaden to bring his chosen student from the Satellite, but what Jaden was doing was completely unheard of.

Holding a free-for-all in the Satellite, promising passage into the city and entrance in the biggest tournament in this era to the last two standing was going a little overboard. He knew Jaden was trying to draw out the two he wanted, but Goodwin would get suspicious, Jaden was playing a risky game, Joey only hoped he knew what he was doing.

 **Wow, I am on fire, more story done, crimson dragon encounters, and a way into the city for Yusei and Akiza, plus the groundwork for Yukiza. Solid chapter if I do say so myself.**

 **That is how the standard battle will go, some will be longer than others while some will be complete blowouts. Hope it wasn't too bad.**

 **I know I kinda screwed up the timeline a bit in the last chapter, I tried to go through and change Martha bringing supplies to Yusei every week, to her bringing supplies every month. So Yusei and Akiza have known each other for little over a month at this point.**

 **I am loving all the reviews and am excited for more. Follows and favs appreciated too.**

 **Happy reading- Centurion Africanus**


	6. Chapter 6- feelings and masks

**I don't own Yugioh.**

Akiza woke up in her bed feeling sorer than the time she fought over 100 gang members at once. She tried to remember what happened, then she remembered the fight, the spirit god who had cursed her to a life of abandonment and hate, and she remembered Yusei was there for her, he let her fall asleep in his arms, then carried her all the way from the training field back to the house, a solid 10 minute walk, all while injured.

Akiza went to check her own wounds, but found them wrapped and well on their way to being healed. Once again, Yusei had gone above and beyond to make sure she was okay. She couldn't thank Martha enough for bringing her to Yusei, she had been lost, but with Yusei, she found herself again, her fighting spirit.

She left her room to grab some food, and was surprised to see Yusei was already up and around, sporting his own bandages.

"Good to see you up, I thought you were going to sleep the whole day." He joked, tossing her a peach, her usual breakfast.

"Don't give yourself so much credit, you didn't hit me that hard." She said, giving him a jostle.

"Haha, you're a comedian, but I think we need to finish up the base of the duel runners today, so we can focus solely on calibrating the magic amplifiers and dampeners after." Yusei said and Akiza gave an affirmatory nod. For the next few days they worked hard on the runners, and by the time their wounds healed, the duel runners were complete, all that was left was the magic adjusters, and those were giving the two of them serious problems.

"I don't get it, how is it possible that both of us have powerful enough magic that we fry every converter we use, at this rate, we may end up going through every one in Satellite." Yusei complained as another one melted.

"Well, maybe try using more than one converter?" Akiza suggested

"No, they would take up too much space, it would cut speed, mobility, and make it so that the whole system could be knocked off the runner, crippling us in a fight." Yusei countered

"Well, how did you do it before, just remake that?" Akiza tried, but Yusei shook his head.

"To do that, I need a stardust chip, a piece I invented for the system, and making one of those would require weeks of work, and Star…" Yusei trailed off, but Akiza got the point.

"Then we find a new way." She insisted, picking Yusei back up. And the two of them set too work, and on the day before Martha was due back with fresh supplies, Yusei cracked it.

"I got it, if we condense a converter, then add a second condensed one, it would not only prevent the system from backfiring, but it could also be used the other way, doubling our regulator count so we take less damage!" Yusei was beyond excited, and he and Akiza set right to work. They worked through the whole night, and by the time they finished, it was almost noon, but they did it, they had completed both runners.

Both Yusei and Akiza went to their runners and ripped on the throttle, both engines roared to life. Next came the hard part, to see if the engine code accepted the code of the magic effectors. Yusei tried first. He poured a little of his magic into the system, and watched as it shot out 5x the strength, blowing all the loose papers and blueprints all over the place.

Akiza tried next, letting her power flow for a mere second, but it was enough, a vine, thicker and with more thorns than here usual ones shot out and smashed into their little table, completely obliterating it.

"Oops." Akiza said, but she couldn't stop herself from smiling from ear to ear. They had done it, they had built, from the ground up, weapons that would help them take Goodwin down.

"Who cares about the table, there's always more out there." Yusei said, laughing loudly, pulling Akiza into a tight hug.

After a few seconds, Yusei realized what he had done, and loosened his grip on Akiza, but he didn't let her go completely.

"Sorry." He mumbled, but Akiza laughed him off.

"I don't really mind." She said, blushing a bit. They both started to lean in subconsciously, slowly…..

"Yusei, Akiza! I have some exciting news!" Martha came bursting in and the two jumped back in shock.

"Oh, hi Martha." Yusei said, trying to ignore the deep blush that was appearing on both Akiza and his faces.

"I hope I wasn't interrupting anything." Martha said slyly, eyeing the young teens.

"No" "Nothing" the two teens said simultaneously.

"Well, while you sort yourselves out, I'll be putting away the food, then I have some exciting news for the two of you." Martha said, smiling. The old nun knew she had just interrupted something, but her news was too good to wait.

"Right Martha." A still crimson Akiza said as Martha began putting away groceries.

As Martha put away the food for the two of them, the two embarrassed teens kept glancing up at each other from their runners, then looking back down hurriedly.

"Right so now, where was I?" Martha asked, coming backing into the main area.

"Important news." Yusei prompted, the red just starting to drain from his face.

"Oh right. So, the four board members of the city are holding a tournament, and each board member is putting forward two duelists to compete, and the winner gets to take on Jack." Martha said excitedly, Akiza, on the other hand, didn't look too happy at the mention of the board members.

"That's great Martha, but how does that help us?" Yusei asked, regaining his composure.

"Jaden Yuki, one of the board members is holding a tournament within the Satellite to choose who represents him, it's going to be in a week at the arena by the Daedalus Bridge." Martha said.

That sure as hell caught their attention.

"What's the format?" Yusei asked, going into full analysis mode

"Battle royale, last two standing are Jaden's two representatives in the tournament, and are permitted lifetime citizenship in the city." Martha said, and she watched as both Yusei and Akiza's faces split into matching smiles.

"When is the tournament?" Akiza asked

"In a week at noon." Martha said, and she watched as the two teens shared a knowing look.

"You have no idea how grateful we are Martha, we can never say that enough." Yusei told her with the most genuine smile she had seen from her little boy since he was a kid.

"Anything for my babies." Martha doted on the two.

"Now, I have to get going, but I will be watching the tournament, and I expect to see the two of you come out on top." Martha said with a false glare, all while grinning.

"Of course Martha, we have a plan." Akiza said.

"Good, now I'll just let the two of you get back to what you were doing before I burst in." Martha said slyly, enjoying the bright blush that once again decorated the teen's faces.

"Good bye Martha." Akiza said and basically pushed the old nun out the door while Martha laughed at the two of them. They would make such a fantastic couple.

"Well, that was unexpected." Yusei commented once Martha was gone.

"Yeah." Akiza agreed, rubbing her arm nervously.

"So, a battle royale, should be just like taking on Goodwin's army of goons, so the same principles should apply." Yusei said distantly, not at all thinking about the tournament, his mind focused solely on the beautiful girl in front of him, his personal savior.

"Yeah." Akiza agreed again.

"Akiza, there's something I want to say." Yusei steeled himself, ready for what might ruin his shot at justice, but he needed to get it off his chest.

"Me too Yusei. "Akiza said strongly.

Then they both stood there, waiting for the other to speak, sufficed to say, the silence was awkward.

"I'll just say it then." Yusei started, breaking the silence. "Akiza, when we first met, I was completely broken, torn apart by what the world had done to me, what my friends had done to me, what my family had done to me. I was completely lost, drowning in my own misery. But then you came into my life, and pulled me out of my depression, you saved me from myself." Yusei said, nearing Akiza slowly, and she slowly made her way towards him at the same time.

"I could say the same thing about you Yusei." Akiza said, tears brimming in her eyes. "I was cast out, abandoned, hated. I was a mess, alone, emotionally unstable. Then Martha found me, and I can never thank her enough for bringing her to the man who would save my life." Akiza said, drawing closer to Yusei.

"Akiza," Yusei went to say more, but Akiza shut him up in the most effective way. She kissed him.

The kiss was soft and innocent, but it quickly turned into one of passion and need. It showed how each of them truly felt, how much they loved each other. In that moment, the two were bound for life, whether they knew it or not.

"Akiza, I don't think I could do this without you." Yusei after they broke apart.

"That goes without saying for me." Akiza agreed. And they kissed again.

When the two finally broke apart again, a silent understanding passed between. They stood together in everything, through everything.

"Together forever." Yusei said in a quiet voice, so quiet in fact that Akiza almost missed what he said.

"Together forever." She agreed. It didn't matter to either of them that they had only known each other for a few months, they had done more for each other than most people do for the entire world, and they weren't done yet.

"Now, this battle royale, we're going to win it, and we're going to do it in style." Akiza said with a smirk, one that Yusei matched. And the two set to work on the beginning of their grand scheme of justice and revenge.

 **One Week Later**

Jaden looked out at the arena. Almost every person in Satellite had shown up, even those without partners. Everyone wanted to get away from Satellite, and if the slightest opportunity presented itself, they were going to take it.

But Jaden didn't feel the two he came for yet. Once he got to Satellite, the pull on his soul went dead, like it was waiting for the other end to respond to its call. So Jaden waited.

There was five minutes left until the tournament began when a loud roar echoed through the area. Pulling up on a pair of flashy red duel runners, something never seen in Satellite unless it was owned by security, were two cloaked figures, both wearing masks.

The first was a mask anyone from the city knew and feared, it was the mask of the Black Rose Witch. Jaden felt the tug on his soul again pulling him towards her. But it also pulled him towards the other masked figure.

This one was a boy. Jaden could see the ends of his hair sticking out from under his hood, it was black with gold streaks. The mask was more terrifying than that of the Black Rose Witch, if that was even possible. The lower half was a dark grey plating, like a knight's armor, while the top half was a lighter grey that came to a point. In the center of the mask, where Jaden presumed the boy's fore head was, was a yellow gem. (Z-ONE mask).

Jaden could feel the power radiating off both of them, it was tremendous, crushing on his senses. These two had power that was certain, but Jaden could also feel the pain they had been through, the hopelessness they had felt, and their desire for revenge. And Jaden had a feeling he knew their target, Goodwin better have known what he was doing, messing with these two, then sticking them together. It was a recipe for disaster.

"Welcome everyone." Jaden announced, putting on a brave face, but keeping his eye on the two cloaked figures who had moved to the center of the group.

"I'm sure you all know the rules, and I'm certain no one will be following them, so have at each other, and may the best men or women come out on top, now BEGIN." As Jaden announced the start of the free-for-all, chaos struck.

 **And, I'm making you all wait another chapter, yeah, I know, I'm mean. I tried to get Yukiza going the best I could this chapter while still going on the story line, so I hope you guys like it, romance isn't my best writing skill, but no story is complete without a little romance.**

 **I plan on trying on getting one more chapter out by tonight, but no promises, and after that, I doubt seers could know when I'm going to post again. So follow to get the heads up right away and don't forget to drop me a review, makes writing much easier.**

 **Happy Reading- Centurion Africanus**


	7. Chapter 7- Are you not entertained?

**Yugioh 5ds belong to some guy in Japan, not me.**

Yusei and Akiza were both amused by Jaden's announcement, he was clearly a man of humor and character, but to them, he was merely a stepping stone.

"Shall we?" Akiza asked Yusei as Jaden finished his announcement.

"Oh course Milady." Yusei replied, letting his magic flow off his finger tips and fill the arena, while Akiza bundled her magic inwards, preparing for her shot at the mass of criminals and other thugs.

"Begin" they heard Jaden call loudly, and Yusei went to work bringing Chaos to the entire arena.

Yusei had been secretly spreading his magic throughout the arena the entire time since the two of them had arrived, and now he brought it to life.

Yusei held his arms out and called his magic out. He let it swirl around him, and the whole interior of the arena for that matter. Yusei felt other wind magic users trying to counter his sudden strike, but he crushed their powers with his own. He focused solely on his task, bringing all the duelists together in a vortex so Akiza could take them all out with one shot, all the weak ones that is, Anyone strong enough to escape their little trap would get to deal with the two of them personally.

The wind Yusei was using was starting to lift people off their feet, once Yusei felt he had the majority of the people here, he condensed the tornado he formed into a ring of wind, filled with people, about 10 feet off the ground.

Akiza gave a smirk under her mask, her turn. She plunged her fist into the ground and a spiked vine shot out, spinning horizontally like a whip, it kept its spiral motion, picking up speed with every turn.

"Ready my rose?" Yusei asked Akiza

"Of course, let the payback begin." Akiza said to Yusei, and with that, they both struck out.

Yusei tightened his wind ring, squishing the people together, and Akiza went in for the final blow, using her one vine in its circular motion to strike each and every dirty Satellite lowlife Yusei had trapped and knock them out of the sky, sending them flying backwards into the arena walls, none of them got back up.

The remaining few duelists looked like they were about to wet themselves. They were no match for the masked team and they knew it, but this was their one shot at freedom for the rotting Satellite, they weren't going to waste it.

"Get them!" one of the thugs in the back called, and Akiza and Yusei were charged. They both smirked, exactly as planned.

Yusei and Akiza went back to back, taking on anyone who came at them. A fire user ran at Akiza, but Yusei grabbed him with the wind and threw him into three of his buddies. Another duelist came at Yusei, but Akiza grabbed him by his ankle with a vine and slammed him into the ground several times before chucking him back.

In a matter of minutes, Akiza and Yusei had defeated every duelist in the entire arena.

"Well, that was easier than expected." Yusei said, turning to face Akiza, but he noticed something behind her,

A single black feather falling from the sky

"Move!" Yusei cried and tackled Akiza out of the way, just in the nick of time too, as a black pulse rained down from above, leaving a trail of black feathers.

"Well well, I thought I had both of you there, guess someone's has some good reflexes." A voice mocked from above, and it was a voice Yusei was all too familiar with, and none too pleased to hear.

"Crow." Yusei growled

"Well, I guess I have a fan, who knew. Now I've got a tournament too win so if you masked freaks could step aside that would make things so much easier." The red head mocked from above, being held aloft by a pair of wings made by his dark magic.

"You don't even recognize my magic anymore, maybe I should jog your memory." Yusei grunted and sent bolts of sparkling wind up at the carrot topped dare devil.

He dodged the bolts with ease, sticking his tongue out at Yusei in the process.

"Missed me gear face." He taunted, flying higher.

"Did I?" Yusei asked, causing Crow to turn in surprise. The bolts Yusei had fired had swirled together behind Crow, forming a vortex, pulling him in and holding him in place.

"I'll let you handle this, I have a feeling things are going to get personal." Akiza said, walking off to the side, stomping on a poor duelist's hand, breaking it in the process.

"oops." She said in a sickly sweet voice. "Now let the payback begin!" she called to Yusei, who smirked under his mask, and allowed his magic to lift him up to the level of the struggling Crow.

"You know, it would have pained me to have to fight you once, but now, you're the one going to be feeling the pain." Yusei said with a smirk, and he let his magic flow and harden around his fists, making solid wind boxing gloves as hard as stone.

"You keep talking like we've met, but I think I would remember a masked freak." Crow spat back at Yusei, who responded with a harsh upper cut to the thief's tattoo marked face.

"That's for running when I needed you most."  
Yusei swung again, catching the smart mouth with a solid blow across the temple.

"This is for never coming back, to your own brother."

Yusei's next punch went into Crow's gut, causing him to double over in pain.

"And this is for trying to hurt my rose!" Yusei let off one more cry and smashed down on the back of Crow's head, while releasing him from the vortex, sending him crashing down to the ground, right to a waiting Akiza, who caught him by the throat with a claw made of foliage.

"Go find yourself a partner and get on our level before you come back, and work on your memory, Forgetting your own brother, the one you grew up with really makes him mad. "Akiza said in a fake sweet voice, then she threw him away, crashing into the far wall.

Yusei floated down next to Akiza and the two grabbed each other's hands and lifted them high before taking a bow to Jaden, who looked like he just shit a brick.

"And we have our winners, if they would please spend the next few hours to collect personal belongings before heading to the main dock for transportation to the city." Jaden said shakily into the mic, before turning and leaving and heading out, his partner Neos close behind him in human form.

"Well then my rose, looks like we have a boat to catch and a mentor too meet." Yusei said, tipping up his mask so only his mouth could be seen.

"Of course my shooting star, our time has come." Akiza agreed, tipping up her mask as well so the two could share a kiss before heading back to their duel runners hand in hand.

Jaden was in shock. He had expected powerful, but uncontrolled duelists who just won by a hair against the mob of people in the arena with no prior knowledge to each other. Instead he gets the loving and vengeful couple that clearly has no qualms about hurting people, and who fought as brutally as most of the people he fought, and many of them were trying to take over the world.

Most everybody in that arena would need medical attention for a long time to come, hell, there could be dead duelists in that arena too with all the bodies stacked up in there. And his two masked students didn't even seem fazed by that, they weren't tired for that matter. They just came in, took care of everyone, doing a serious number on the orange haired boy, then leaving like it was no big deal.

It was clear to Jaden that the two had no problem controlling their powers, their emotions on the other hand, needed some looking at. The way they fought, it was like every battle would be their last, and it made them powerful, powerful and dangerous.

But Jaden sighed, he knew this wasn't going to be easy going in, he had given Yugi countless headaches before his training was done, but he might have bitten off more than he could chew, but he put those thoughts aside for now. He had reached the docks and was awaiting his new students, and from the sound of duel runners approaching, he knew they were almost here.

Time to meet the monsters behind the masks.

Yusei and Akiza already had their bags at their runners. They had known in advance they were going to win. No one in Satellite could stand up to their combined might. Humiliating Crow had been an extra bonus Yusei was more than happy to receive.

Yusei and Akiza mounted their runners and set off quickly towards the docks.

They got there in record time, thanks to Yusei's genius engine design, their runners were better than anyone else's, except Jack, but they still had the advantage of advanced magic control units.

They saw Jaden waiting for them, back to his well composed self, their little display seemed to have shaken even one of the most powerful duelists of all time, but there was nothing wrong with a little shock and awe.

"Well, it is good to see you both made it here safe and sound, although, after seeing your performance, it would undoubtedly take more than an army to stop the two of you." Jaden greeted them, but the still cloaked Yusei brushed him off.

"That's the idea." He said as he hopped off his runner and began leading it up onto the boat Jaden had prepared with Akiza close behind.

"Do you guys have partners?" Jaden asked, catching Yusei off guard.

"Yeah, but they were taken unjustly, and we'd like them back." Akiza jumped in, taking over where Yusei got rattled. The two of them were good like covering each other's back in every situation. It was easy when they trusted each other completely and had identical goals.

"I figured as much, I'll see what I can do, Goodwin should be the only road block." Jaden said flippantly, but he knew he hit a nerve, for both of them. The air grew slightly colder and a silver glow began to reflect around them, as well as some flowers rapidly blooming all around them, black roses of course.

'Got it, Goodwin equals mad, I'll keep that in mind.' Jaden thought to himself, before turning back to the two.

"Well, Time to set sail, I would have gotten us a chopper, but I figured we would need the time to fill out citizenship registration papers, partner registration papers, and apparently duel runner registration as well." Jaden said with a laugh, gesturing for Yusei and Akiza to get on with him.

"And there was one other matter I wanted to bring up with the both of you, one of utmost importance." Jaden said, dropping all playfulness he had in his voice before, his eyes flashing heterochromatic for a second, before returning to normal and making his way into the cabin of the ship. His sudden change in demeanor almost scared the couple, almost

Yusei and Akiza were more than ready, so they walked onto the boat, into their new lives, together.

 **Well, I got it done. I highlighted on their darker aspects in battle as best I could, and I figured the ZONE mask on Yusei would be a nice touch. The runner they have are just the cannon ones and Yusei's cloak costume is the one he wore when he fought Kalin a clash town, plus the ZONE mask.**

 **I know for fact that at least one person thought that Joey's student would be Crow, but his story will come later. Crow has a different student. I left a clue in there, so I'll kick back and see if anyone finds it and puts the pieces together.**

 **Hope for tons of reviews, follows and favs, and hoping I can survive another week of school.**

 **Happy reading –Centurion Africanus**


	8. Chapter 8- truces and city life

I don't own Yugioh

Once the three of them were on board, they were followed by their runners that had been pack full of their belongings, and by a few duel sprites that refused to leave Yusei.

Jaden was confused by the sprites, but Yusei brushed them off as good friends.

"Now, for the two of you to be officially added to the city citizen ship registry, I need ID pictures, so, no masks." Jaden said, holding up and camera loosely

"Well, I am already a citizen of the city, so that will be quite unnecessary." Akiza said, tapping her foot impatiently.

"I thought as much, seeing as you were definitely in the city before." Jaden said with a grin, as if he approved of Akiza's violent vigilantism.

"You then?" Jaden asked Yusei, but Yusei was ready, having practiced his response with Akiza earlier.

"I am also a citizen of the city. I just got separated to Satellite during Zero Reverse." Yusei said, causing Jaden to cock an eyebrow at him.

"You don't seem like you would be old enough to remember Zero Reverse, so…" He asked

"True, I was only an infant, but I found out my parentage in the Satellite and I am quite certain my father was a resident of the city, and had me registered." Yusei insisted, and Jaden just nodded.

"Works for me, Duel registration then. You both are obviously a wind and earth user respectively, but I need names to enter into the system." Jaden said, expecting real names, but he got nothing of the sort.

"You know mine already." Akiza said, tossing Jaden a black rose, causing him to groan.

"I wanted real names, but whatever." He complained, causing Yusei to give him harsh glare.

"Our real names will remain secret, because if they are revealed, it will be a lot more trouble than its worth." Yusei insisted, causing Jaden to ponder his statement for a moment.

"And you can call me the Stardust Demon." He said, causing Jaden to groan again.

"If you insist." He said, entering the names into the system.

"Now the runners." Jaden started, but Yusei cut him off, defending his work.

"Are the best you will ever see, in either Satellite or the city. They are both up to code." Yusei said, patting his runner gently.

"Sure whatever." Jaden was getting upset now, these two clearly had no interest in anything he had to say, fine, if they wouldn't respond to niceness, maybe they would respond to force.

"Ok then you two listen up, you two need to know the real reason you are here." Jaden started, causing the two to look at him with what he imagined were confused expressions behind their masks.

"For the tournament correct?" Yusei asked, but Jaden shook his head.

"That was just a show cover, and yes you can still compete, but I had a different reason, do you both know the story of how I met Yugi Moto?" Jaden asked, ready to begin his story, but the two had other ideas.

"No, we will not become your students, we are clearly learned in magic quite well and can handle ourselves." Akiza saw right through his attempt to skirt around the subject, but had had enough of their constant cutting him off.

"Ok, listen hear you two, I have been looking for student for a long time, and I used a piece of soul magic taught to me by Yugi Moto himself, and since that day, I have been trying to find a way to get to both of you, but I was blocked at every turn and I am sick of it. So if you two want to compete in the tournament, if you two don't want me to simply turn this boat around and drop you both back off at Satellite you will both agree to be my students." Jaden was pissed, and was starting to let his magic drip out, but not his light magic. A dark aura was showing from Jaden, and for once, Yusei and Akiza knew what it was like to be around themselves when they were angry.

"Ok fine." Akiza said and Jaden immediately calmed himself before continuing.

"Good, I'm glad we could reach that understanding." He said, "Now, purely for off the books, can you both please take off your masks, I would like to get to know my students." Jaden said, as if he didn't remember they were his students by force.

Yusei and Akiza shared a glance, both wary of trusting Jaden, but from what they could tell, Jaden was a good person, and could be a powerful ally, and if they could pick up a few new tricks off him, they would be the better for it. They silently agreed to go along with whatever Jaden said, to an extent of course.

Yusei took off his mask first, and set it on the table the three of them were seated at. Jaden eyed the marker, asking Yusei a silent question.

"Assaulting Sector Security." Yusei said plainly, it was not what the mark was really for, but he wasn't going to tell Jaden that.

Jaden was shocked at how much Yusei looked like an old friend of his, Hakase Fudo.  
The two even talked with the same sense of superiority. He knew Hakase had a son, one that went missing during Zero Reverse. Hakase's wife, Yoka, had searched for years, but had found no trace of the boy, could he be looking at Hakase's only child now?

Akiza took off her mask next, and Jaden couldn't help but be impressed by her beauty. The black rose witch, it would seem, had the best of both worlds.

"Well, I can certainly say it's a relief to be looking at actual human faces instead of masks, so tell me about yourselves, as much or as little as you like." Jaden said, kicking back in his chair and propping his feet up on the table, just like he used to in Duel Academy.

"My name is Yusei, just Yusei." Yusei started, meeting Jaden's casual glance. "And I've lived in the Satellite my whole life. I led a rebellion movement against Sector Security, then we were stopped and my partner and I was exiled to the wasteland on the far side of Satellite, my partner was later kidnapped by one of my fellow rebellion leaders, I know he took my partner to the city, and I want my partner back." Yusei growled the last part, and his magic leaked out a bit, but with a simple hand on his shoulder, Akiza calmed him down.

Jaden was impressed by the relationship the two had, it was clear they only trusted each other, and were only telling him nonspecific unimportant things, but it was a start.

"My name is Akiza." She started, picking up where Yusei left off. "I was born and raised in the city, but my parents hated me and shipped me off to Duel academy. I was hated there too, so I ran home, but saw my father, who was always a kind and loving man, conducting black market deals for duel sprites he had captured. From that day on, I've made it my mission to stop people like him." Akiza said, getting upset like Yusei, until sed Satellite calmed her down.

"Well, your lives suck." Jaden summarized, and the two of them deadpanned at him. "I have one last question for you two before you can catch some sleep, why do you want to be in this tournament?" Jaden asked, and watched the two of them share a glance, having what seemed to be an entire mental discussion in a matter of seconds.

"I am fairly certain I know one of the people Goodwin will be competing with, and it's someone I have unfinished business with." Akiza said, causing Jaden to wonder who she was talking about.

"I want my shot at the great and almighty Jack Atlas." Yusei spat Jack's name like it was poison, a fact Jaden noticed. Whatever hate Yusei carried for Jack was serious, and Jaden knew it was probably well founded, even he had to admit Jack was a pompous asshat with no common decency.

"Works for me, I'm going to crash, you two probably didn't notice but it's pretty late." Jaden got up and started walking to the door, but stopped in the doorway.

"I know you guys are a couple, you're terrible at hiding it, so just one rule, I only have one extra room, so no funny business on the boat, the walls are a lot thinner than the ones at my place in the city." Jaden told them and enjoyed the lovely shade of scarlet the two of them turned, point Yuki.

And with that, Jaden went to bed, glad with the progress he had made with his new students. His first impression had been correct. Yusei and Akiza both had crappy draws in life, but they were determined to do something about it. Jaden knew they were still hiding things, and he respected that, they had only just met after all.

The next morning, Jaden went to wake his new students and inform them of their arrival in the city, but was not prepared for what he saw. While it was only one room, there were two beds in the room, a fact that Yusei and Akiza had clearly ignored.

"Guys, I had one rule." Jaden groaned when he walked in to find the two of them snuggling.

"Turn off the sun." Akiza grumbled sleepily, waving her hand, shooting forward vines to shut the door in Jaden's face. What a way to start day one.

Jaden waited impatiently at the door, tapping his foot until a messy looking Yusei slipped out the door.

"Sorry about her, she only gets when she wants to, no sooner." He said, scratching his head.

"I get it, I was never an early riser when I was younger either. Hell, I gave my room mates in duel academy one hell of a headache with my snoring too." Jaden laughed.

"So was there anything you wanted to tell us, or was it simply a wakeup call?" Yusei asked, direct as usual.

"Yeah, we're close to the city and I know for a fact there will be reporters waiting for us, so I wanted to let you two know so you could prepare." Jaden said and Yusei paled slightly, he clearly hadn't thought about that before.

"Thanks, that would be important information." And with that, Yusei slipped back into his room, Jaden only shook his head, they were quite the pair, Yusei and Akiza, and they just might be the push the city needs.

When the ship pulled up to the shore, there were tens of reporters all waiting with microphones and cameras. Well, Jaden did warn them. His assistants loaded the duel runners on a truck that he had prepared and it set out for his house.

Let's go you two, time to head out." Jaden called to Yusei and Akiza, who emerged from their room in their cloak and mask outfits.

"Fine, let's get this over with." Akiza complained, yawning loudly under her mask before putting up her steely emotionless visage.

"Well, let's introduce you two to the city." Jaden said, throwing his arms over their shoulders, but he was quickly thrown off.

"No real names or information, don't even tell them our magic, just the titles we provided you." Yusei told him coldly, before heading to the ramp off the ship. Jaden quickly raced after them.

"Okay everybody, introducing my two new students, the Black Rose Witch and the Stardust Demon!" Jaden announced to the excited crowd, and all their faces dropped. The Black Rose Witch was a hated figure throughout the entire city, and judging by the fact that the other masked figure was holding her hand, they correctly assumed they were dating.

"Mr. Yuki, you are well aware the Black Rose Witch was a menace to our city, why did you bring her back?" One reporter with poofy hair and an extreme amount of cleavage who had pushed her way to the front asked Jaden, but he simply waved her off.

"I am not only bringing her back, but also making her one of my first two students." Jaden told the camera cheerily, causing people to drop their jaws in shock.

"But Jaden, she…" the reporter started again, but a glare from Akiza shut her right up.

"Well, we have places to be and training to begin, so we will be on our way, thank you so much for the warm welcome, and you will get to see these two dueling at the Fortune Cup next month." Jaden told the camera before getting into the limo he had ready, and was closely followed by Akiza and Yusei, who both let out sighs of relief when they were in the car.

"Then was a lot more than I expected." Yusei said, lifting his mask so his mouth was open, Akiza did the same and leaded into Yusei's chest.

"You should get used to it, both being in the Fortune Cup and being my students." Jaden warned them and they both sighed.

"Well, when we get to my place, I have two rooms prepared for you, but I get the feeling only one is going to be used." Jaden said slyly, but neither Yusei nor Akiza denied it.

"I'll give you two the day to settle in, then starting tomorrow, we can begin training." Jaden said, but Yusei shook his head.

"I was going to be teaching Akiza how to properly duel on a duel runner, we don't need much other training." He insisted, but Jaden shook his head.

"You can do that in your free time, which I will give you, but, while you may think you know everything, I know there are things I can teach you." Jaden said as the limo pulled up to a waterfront mansion.

"You live here?" Akiza asked, stunned at the size of the building, it was considerably bigger than her parent's, no, those ungrateful bastards who called themselves her parents, house.

"Yeah, you like it, I modeled it after my dorm at duel academy." Jaden said, clearly proud of his house.

"It's like our place, but bigger." Yusei said to Akiza as they got out of the car.

"Well, I'll let you two get settled, I have the best security in the world so there is no need for the masks, I'll have some of the duel sprites here lead you to your rooms." Jaden said with a wink, knowing exactly was going through their heads.

"Thank you Jaden, we'll see tomorrow." Akiza said politely, but still coldly, and the two of them walked into the house. Jaden gave a sigh, the second the news report had gone out over who he had chosen as students, the council had been demanding his presence at a meeting. Just what he needed.

"Let's go Neos, we have some old grumpy council men to deal with, and Joey should be there too." Jaden laughed at his own joke before leaving for his meeting.

"Jaden Yuki, you have put the city in danger bringing that witch back into our city, she needs to be sent back to Satellite, where she belongs." Senator Izinski yelled in Jaden's face, but he merely yawned.

"Technically, she's a citizen of the city, so she belongs right where she is, plus I promised her a spot in the Fortune cup, a promise that I intend to keep." Jaden said, matching the senator's glare with one of his own.

"What about partners, they didn't have any in the news report, they'll never be able to stand up in that tournament without partners." The Senator said triumphantly, but Jaden smirked, he had walked right into his trap.

"Just ask Goodwin, he has illegally chained both of their partners deep within the Facility, and kept it secret from this council." Jaden said, pointing an accusing finger at Goodwin.

"I have no idea what you are talking about Jaden, I haven't done anything to the Black Rose Witch's monster and I have never heard of this Stardust Demon before in my life." Goodwin insisted, but Jaden held his ground.

"I advise you return their partners to them Goodwin, it may not end well for you if you don't." Jaden warned him, but Goodwin turned his glare to Jaden.

"Is that a threat Mr. Yuki?" he accused, but Jaden shook his head.

"Merely an observation. My two students are quite driven and powerful duelists, I would hate for them to somehow find out where their monsters are being held and go after them themselves." Jaden replied with a smirk, causing the color to drain from Goodwin's face a bit.

"I still have no idea what you are talking about Mr. Yuki, but that is not the topic at hand. You need to send that monster of a girl back to the wasteland of Satellite where she belongs." Goodwin insisted, but Joey took the chance to jump in.

"We cleared this up at the last meeting, entering people from Satellite is perfectly acceptable, plus, I have a more hardened criminal as my student than the Black Rose Witch." Joey said with a laugh.

"Do we even want to know Joey?" Senator Izinski asked with a sigh.

"I won't say it outright, but his nickname was the Executioner's Bane." Joey said eerierily.

"The what?" Jaden asked, and Joey was more than happy to explain.

"Goodwin had him sent to execution without any of our knowledge, but no matter how hard the executioner tried, he wouldn't die. Not poison that is usually used, not the electric chair, the fire duelist firing squad kept missing. I stepped in before they could find a battle axe and try decapitation." Joey said and Goodwin glared at him.

"I'm sure he was put to death for good reason." Goodwin tried to cover his ass, but Joey was right on top of him.

"The only charge attached to his mark is challenging you to a duel Rex, care to explain? "Joey prompted, but Goodwin ignored him.

"Now is not the time for any of this, if you insist on allowing the Black Rose Witch to enter Jaden then so be it, but she will not be given her partner back." Goodwin said, admitting to having her dragon.

"I wouldn't worry about that, 3…2…1…" Jaden slowly counted down, and as he reached one, Goodwin's secretary Lazar burst in, shaking in fear.

"Director Goodwin! A masked duo has broken into the Facility and freed the dragons we had prisoner in the secret vault." Lazar cried, clearly terrified.

"Well, I guess that settles that, I'll see you three at the tournament." Jaden said, and with that, both he and Joey left Senator Izinski and Goodwin with the hysterical clown man.

"So, are they good?" Joey asked Jaden as they made their way out.

"Very, but they aren't emotionally stable, the way they fight is almost too brutal. Bad things have happened to the two of them, and I have a feeling I know who is responsible." Jaden said, giving one last look at Goodwin's building, he could almost feel the hate the two had for Goodwin, and based on what he just witnessed, they had good reason.

Back with Akiza and Yusei, they were settling into Jaden's house, choosing to stay in the bigger of the two rooms. The whole room was bigger than Yusei's house in Satellite, it was basically the same layout, just fancier and without the main area doubling as a garage.

Yusei and Akiza were laying on the couch in their room, Yusei enjoying a TV for the first time in his life.

"So, what do you think of TV?" Akiza asked Yusei, who simply shrugged

"Too much Jack, I mean, he's all over everything, I can't seem to escape his stuck up entitled face." Yusei complained, and Akiza turned off the TV.

"I know a way for you to forget." She said and she started making out with Yusei, they kept going, but despite Jaden's joking, they had yet to go beyond kissing. Sure they slept in the same bed, but they didn't do anything, they had better control than that, but they both knew it was only a matter of time, they didn't really care though.

As things started to get more heated, a knock was heard at their door. Knowing it wasn't Jaden, since he would have just burst in, Yusei and Akiza slipped their masks on and Yusei answered the door. Standing there was Jaden's wife, Alexis Yuki.

"Jaden said to give you this once he had departed for the council meeting, it is nice to see him finally take students, I hope to see you both for dinner. "Her cheeriness was forced, Yusei could tell, but he didn't care, he was too focused on the folder he was handed.

"What was that about?" Akiza asked while Yusei began to flip through the file.

Inside was the complete layout of a mass prison, and the entrance to a secret passage that led to a secret underground holding cell, one big enough to hold way more than two dragons.

"It's a way to get our partners back." Yusei said, disbelief in his voice.

"Let's go." Akiza said immediately said, throwing her cloak on.

"Wait, we need a plan, people only know what we look like with our disguises on, if we go out looking normal, we can get in close, then put on the masks and get Nettle and Star back." Yusei said and Akiza grinned.

"I love when you think ahead." She said, giving Yusei a quick peck.

"It's what I do." Yusei grinned and the two set out, hell-bent on getting their partners back.

 **What a chapter, kinda filler and longish, but the tournament should start in chapter 10, chap 9 being some training, and of course, ransacking the Facility. I left some more clues as to who Joey's first student is, and I'm willing to bet at least one person has picked up on it. His other student is going to be a big surprise. I'm still working out who is going to be facing who and when, but I'll figure it out eventually.**

 **One thing to clear up, Jaden is in his late 30s, Yugi took him as a student when he was in his 90s, a little background for those who want it.**

 **I am loving all the support I've been getting and can't wait for more, you guys rock. Remember to review, fav and follow, kinda lucky I got a post out tonight.**

 **Happy reading- Centurion Africanus**.


	9. Chapter 9- prison break

**I don't own Yugioh**

Yusei and Akiza stealthily slipped their way out of Jaden's home, with their masks tucked away. They first had to get past the reporters by the gates, desperate for the first glimpse at Jaden's new students, no matter how terrifying they were.

When Yusei and Akiza got away successfully, they relaxed and enjoyed walking through the city, not as its harbingers of Justice as they would in the future, but as a simple couple, happy to be together.

"It's so much nicer here." Yusei said, looking around, seeing all the skyscrapers and chrome plated buildings for the first time. The city was outwardly beautiful, meant to enchant those looking from the outside.

And Yusei had to give Goodwin props, no matter how much he hated the guy, but he could put up the illusion of happiness like no one's business. But Yusei supposed that was a good thing, it would make Goodwin's fall from power even more tragic.

The two walked slowly through the streets towards the Facility, enjoying being a normal couple, pretending all the horrible things that had happened to them never happened. They held hands, stopped at as many couples attractions as they could, even got some ice cream, but while they may appear to be a kind and happy couple, they were focused on one thing and two things only.

Star and Nettle.

They eventually made it within a block of the Facility and they decided it was time to drop the act. They both slipped on their masks, forgoing the cloaks for a change.

"Let our justice rise." Yusei said, letting his magic whip up around him, filling him with inhuman strength.

"And let it fall upon the corruption of the city." Akiza finished, stirring up her own magic storm.

"Get ready Goodwin, this is only the beginning." They said together and pointed their magic at a wall of the huge stone building called the Facility.

It only took seconds before their combined magical might tore a huge chunk of the wall away from the building. Alarms blared as Akiza and Yusei made their way into the building, Sector Security rushing to meet them.

"Halt, in the name of the law." An oversized security member called to them. Yusei and Akiza almost burst out laughing, the man was easily over 500 pounds and looked like he could barely stand.

"We simply seek what was wrongfully taken from us, then we will be on our way, no one needs to be hurt." Yusei told them clearly, but his words of peace were met with streams of fire from the officers.

"The fun way it is then." Akiza said with a sigh as Yusei used his magic to shield them from the fire. Compared to Jack alone, their attacks were feathers.

"We did warn you." Yusei said, and everything went to hell. Yusei went for fat and bald while Akiza handled crowd control.

Akiza lashed out, using the stone around her to her advantage, while her magic may revolve around plants, their magic stemmed from earth magic, which gave her moderate control over stone, a fact the security learned in the most painful way imaginable.

She used the stone to form her rose tentacles, and when it was made out of stone, the attacks struck twice as hard. She knew her magic would move slower like this, but it would survive any fire attacks thrown its way.

Yusei was facing fat and bald one on one, seeing as he was clearly the one in charge and the most powerful. Yusei didn't want another incident like with Crow where Akiza almost got hurt.

"So, you two freaks come here just to make a mess, is that it?" fatty asked Yusei, his earth magic swirling on his palms, slowly crumbling in on itself, making metal.

"We want our partners back, the two dragons Goodwin has you illegally holding beneath this building." Yusei said simply, keeping a calm emotionless visage.

"So, those two shit monsters belong to you two do they. Well, I'll be happy to let you know we've treated them nicely. Chains, whips, branding, the whole Facility experience!" the fat guy laughed, but he had no idea what he had just done. The monster he just unleashed.

"YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!" he roared, letting his magic fly off him in waves, more powerful than the wind ring he had made back in the Satellite.

Tubby was thrown back down a hallway, landing on his backside, losing control over his metal magic.

When he looked back down the hall way, the sight he saw scared him shitless. Yusei and Akiza were standing above him, each radiating insane amounts of magic. They were both glowing too, Yusei a cold silver light, as if his magic had frozen in the air.

Akiza was glowing a deep black with tinges of red. Her magic had burned out any form and was rolling off her in waves, roaring like a fire.

But neither of these things are what scared the oversized prison warden the most, what scared him was the crimson aura coming from each of them, it was overwhelming his senses, driving him to the point of madness. He felt the hate, the pain, the anguish. It was too much for him, he gave a final cry before he collapsed, his eyes rolled back in his head, foaming at the mouth.

Yusei and Akiza stepped over his pathetic form and made their way to the lowest level of the prison. None of the prisoners said a word to them, they were far too frightened of the two imposing masked figures who drove the warden insane with simply their presence.

When they reached the dead end wall at the end of the deepest hall, Akiza pressed her hand onto the wall lightly, before snapping her arm back and striking the wall with her palm. Black plant life zoomed up from the ground, piercing the door like a weave before ripping it off is hinges completely.

Inside was a sight that brought tears to both Yusei and Akiza's eyes. Star and Nettle were chained heavily to walls, their mouths muzzled shut. They were both separated from the entrance by thick metal bars that Yusei quickly ripped to shreds with the wind.

Both Yusei and Akiza approached their dragons, taking off their masks in the process, and began carefully removing the chains and muzzle, so as to not hurt their friends any more.

Both dragons were clearly in bad shape. Nettle had been whipped rather severely, her back was covered in cuts that had formed a criss cross of scars. She only had one brand, but it brought a fresh wave of fury to Akiza when she saw it.

It was the image of a bleeding rose was branded to her left leg.

Star had it worse than Nettle. While he didn't have nearly as many whip scars, he had been covered in brand marks.

The most prominent was a brand under Star's left eye, one that matched Yusei's mark. There were others, they were all names, thousands of names in a tiny print that could barely be read up close, but Yusei knew what they were. The names of all the people who lost their lives in the Zero Reverse.

But Yusei knew the truth now. That Zero Reverse was just another crime Goodwin had to pay for, and Star would be that harbinger of justice and revenge. Sure Yusei would have preferred if none if this had happened to Star at all, but what was done was done, all that was left to do was roll with the punches.

"Hey big guy." Yusei said, calming Star down as best he could. Star recognized his partner and gave a happy coo.

' _You finally came Yusei, I knew you would, and you brought the pretty dragons bonded as well.'_ Star said in Yusei's mind

"Of course I came, and it's good to know you like Nettle, cause the two of them are going to be around for a long while." Yusei told Star, petting him head gently, tracing the mark on his face that matched his own.

' _For how long?'_ Star asked, tilting his massive head into Yusei's chest, nuzzling him.

"Hopefully forever bud, so I hope you made nice." Yusei told Star who gave a draconic grin.

' _Well that's good, because she is my mate.'_ Star said bluntly, any sort of reaction he was expecting from Yusei, he got the opposite.

"Well, that makes two of us, but we gotta leave now, you got it in you for a big exit?" Yusei asked the injured dragon.

' _Give these fuckers a proper farewell, sounds damn good to me.'_ Star said, giving a roar of approval, one that Nettle matched.

"Ready to go my Rose?" Yusei asked Akiza, slipping his mask back on.

"Of course my shooting star." She replied, putting her mask on as well. The two spell casters left through the broken wall, closely followed by their freed dragons. If the inmates were afraid before, it was nothing compared to the fear they felt now. Two scary figures now followed by two scarier dragons, a nightmare come to life for their enemies.

Yusei and Akiza casually walked out of the Facility, stopping only to open all the cells in the place, setting every last prisoner free. Sector Security tried to stop them of course, but a newly freed Star and Nettle took care of anyone in their path with ease, and they had fun with it too, tossing around the pathetic Security around with a childlike glee.

When they reached the exit of the Facility, they hopped on their respective dragon's backs and flew off into the night, leaving the burning Facility behind, with each and every prisoner fleeing the burning ruins.

And so Goodwin's downfall began.

 **Short chapter, but I wanted to just do the one scene, I need to get more sleep than I have been getting. I'll try to get more out when I can, but who knows.**

 **I knew some clever readers would piece together Kalin was one of Joey's students, and he'll have an important role to play later on.**

 **All reviews, favs and follows welcome, encouraged even.**

 **Happy reading- Centurion Africanus**


	10. Chapter 10- and so it begins

**I don't own Yugioh.**

When Jaden got home from probably the most exhausting meeting he had been to since Zero Reverse, the first thing he saw was his angry wife, with a TV remote in hand.

"Your psychopathic lovers are in one of the bedrooms, with all the medical supplies in the house and their partners, good luck." Alexis told him, giving him a dark look.

"We both know this isn't my worst idea ever, and those two have been through more than either of us can possibly imagine, and we went through a whole ton." Jaden told her and her face softened.

"If you insist, if they really were completely evil Neos wouldn't let them within 5 feet of you." She said and walked off.

"I'm going to bed, check on your students before coming up, responsibility never has been your strong point, and now you have to look after those two as well." She told Jaden over her shoulder. Jaden gave a sigh, those two were already getting him in trouble all over the place, kinda like what he did to Yugi when he first became student.

"Hey knock knock you two." Jaden called knocking lightly on the room that Yusei and Akiza had claimed as their own.

"We all know you're going to come in no matter what we say, so why bother knocking." Yusei's voice came from the other side of the door and Jaden gave a grin, the kid learned fast.

"So, you two got me in a shit load of trouble, any reason you didn't go in with stealth?" Jaden asked as he came, and the sight beyond made him feel sick. Yusei and Akiza were each treating their partners who were in human form, but Jaden could see from the extensive number of bandages and blood, it was bad.

"Security give you two a fight?" Jaden asked, handing Yusei the disinfectant he had been struggling to reach for.

"Goodwin." Was all he got as a response.

"What did that buffoon do now?" Jaden complained. Akiza stepped aside from her partner's human form, a girl with deep red skin and pitch black hair, Jaden couldn't see her face because her back was too him, and that was all he needed to see.

The duel spirit had deep slash marks across her back, there were so many it looked like she had been flayed. Jaden also saw her left leg was already wrapped.

Yusei's partner was worse if possible. He was a tall pale skinned boy with a shock of spiked white hair. While he didn't have nearly have as many whip scars, his entire visible body was covered in what appeared to be fresh and poorly given tattoos.

"Turns out branding a duel monster in its most powerful form, causes their wounds to become bloody tattoos when they transform back to humans." Yusei said, wrapping one of his partner's arms in gauze.

"Well, I can assure neither me nor councilman Wheeler had anything to do with this, that I can guarantee." Jaden assured them and Yusei nodded.

"They said it was Goodwin and the fat prison warden who did this too them. Goodwin did the branding on both of them personally and fatso was the whipping." Yusei said, finishing wrapping his partner up, handing him a shirt. Jaden expected for the monster to try go and meet him, but the dragon completely ignored him and set to work helping Akiza wrapping up the Black Rose Witch's dragon.

When the two of them finished, the two duel monsters turned to greet him.

' _Tell him our names Yusei, I want to crash soon, so don't drag this out.'_ Yusei's partner said to Yusei, but Jaden caught every word of it. Part of his unique powers was he could hear any duel spirit when they spoke mentally to anyone.

"Well, I can hear the both of you, so just tell me yourselves, then you can hit the hay." Jaden told Yusei's partner, causing all four's jaws to drop.

' _In that case, I am a Stardust dragon, and you may call me Star.'_ Yusei's partner told him, his deep indigo eyes meeting Jaden's in a serious stare.

' _And I am the Black Rose Dragon, Nettle.'_ Akiza's red skinned partner

' _So if you heard me correctly before, I am tired and you are now leaving, goodnight.'_ Star stated finally and collapsed on the bed, causing both Akiza and Nettle to give a small chuckle.

"Well, we should get some rest too." Yusei said, pulling Akiza into his side and giving her a kiss on top of her head, causing her to giggle lightly.

And with that, the two of them walked out of the room to their own across the hall, leaving a confused Jaden with a sleeping Star and a grinning Nettle.

"Well, goodnight Nettle, I hope you and Star recover fast enough for some training before the Fortune cup." Jaden said politely, but Nettle scoffed.

' _The four of us have a plan, you would do well to not interfere. Goodnight.'_ Nettle told him and collapsed next to Star, digging her head into his chest. Apparently Yusei and Akiza weren't the only couple in the house, perfect…

For the next month, Jaden tried to teach the two of them as many tricks as he could, but they either knew them, or they wouldn't apply to their magic type. Jaden had gotten his best friend from Duel Academy, Syrus Truesdale, to give the two duel runners they had brought a once over, but the tech had confused the very man who invented the duel runner.

Their dragons were better, if only just. They took instructions from both him and Noes, not just immediately ignoring what he said to go about their own devices like their human partners.

When the day of the Fortune Cup began, Jaden pulled his two human partners aside for a pep talk while Neos talked up the dragons.

"Ok you two, I get you don't really care what I say, so I won't go on about how vengeance is wrong, I know you won't listen, but if there are innocent people who enter this tournament, ones who you have never met before, don't go overboard, I've seen what you two can do, and it honestly scares me. So just be careful with the collateral damage, I will step in if innocent people get hurt pointlessly." Jaden warned the two, and Yusei gave a serious nod.

"We know, we have our targets." Yusei answered

"And if you two have to face each other, it would be in the round before Jack, since the two brackets will include one duelist representing each council member" Jaden asked, and the lovers shared a glance.

"Well, our last duel ended in a tie, so it would be interesting to see if either one of got better than the other, and if our dragons play a role in the battle." Akiza commented, giving Yusei a challenging grin.

"Yes, either way, Jack would get his ass handed to him and his ego cut down to side." Yusei agreed.

"Good to know, well, time to head out. I take it you two are going in the mysterious terrifying get up." Jaden double checked, and his question was answered by the couple holding up their creepy masks.

"Although we were thinking we would ditch them after the cup, we'll have made our point by then." Akiza said, giving her mask a loving caress, like Jaden said, creepy.

"Well, that's a relief, they were seriously creeping me out." Jaden joked.

' _We are prepared, let us begin our journey.'_ Star said from behind them, closely followed by Nettle and Neos.

And with those elegant words, the 6 of them departed for the Duel stadium, a special arena designed for people to safely watch their favorite Duelists.

"Welcome welcome one and all, to the Fortune Cup!" The announcer said over the loud speaker, his words bringing cheers from the audience.

"A quick reminder of how the tournament will work. Each of the four council men have entered two fantastic duelists, and we have made two random brackets, each side including one representative duelist from each councilman, and the last one standing has the honor of facing the current dueling champion, Jack Atlas." At Jack's name, the entire arena erupted in cheers as the master of faster himself came blazing out of one of the tunnels, followed by his draconic partner, the Red Dragon Archfiend named Inferno.

"Duels will be held either on Duel Runners, or as a standing Duel, depending on the capabilities of the Duelists." The announcer continued as Jack kept circling the track, giving off bursts of fire to impress his adoring fans, before pulling up in front of the stand where the duelists would be brought up.

"Now let's meet the eager competitors, first, representing Joey Wheeler, we have, from the tops of New Domino city, Leo, and his partner, Gear!" a short boy with mint green hair that was tied back in a ponytail came rising out of the ground, waving with both arms to the audience, a huge smile on his face. His partner, Gear, was more reserved. He was a tall boy, taller than his human, he had a yellowish skin and light gray hair.

"And also representing Joey, the man who was unjustly convicted, then escaped death 5 times, I give you, the Executioner's Bane, and his partner Watcher!" Joey's other representative didn't get nearly as warm a welcome as his fellow child representative. He had long light blue hair and a red execution mark running down the right side of his face. His eyes were a dull light blue, almost white. He stared out the audience with a bored glance. His partner was more alive. She was shorter than her partner by a few inches and had short deep purple hair. Her eyes were what was most noticeable. Her eyes were a dark blue, and they each had multiple pupils, making people flinch away from her, a fact she seemed saddened by.

"Now, the representatives of Senator Izinski, first, an ex-champion on a mission, a man with a need for speed, Hunter Pace and his partner, Lucifer!" the announcer continued, this tame, a pair of biker looking men rose up on a platform, both having tattoos and scars, both with matching arrogant grins.

"His teammate, the man with a plan, the strategist who knows the past, Commander Koda and his partner, Libros!" The other representative of Senator Izinski had olive green hair and glasses, he had a confident smile on his face, his partner was a short man with purple hair, looking slightly like Goodwin's assistant Lazar. His smile was almost maniac, giving people the chills.

"Let's welcome, Director Goodwin's competitors, first, he's mysterious, he's unknown, he's the Ice Lord and his partner Whiteout!" Goodwin's first duelist wore a cloak, but the hood was back showing a teenage boy with white hair. He had deep blue tattoos running down his face, outlining his almost pure white eyes. His partner was nearly identical to him, matching tattoos and eyes, the only difference being gender. They gave off a sense of peace, but some felt uneasy in their presence.

"And the other rep, the fearsome, the strong, the dominating, Greiger and his partner Striker!" the announcer continued his introductions, this time, a mountain of a man rose from the stage, he had long black hair that went well with his darker skin. He wore almost armor like clothing, as did his partner, who was taller than all the other duel monsters present. His partner had pitch black skin and bronze colored hair that was in a clean army cut.

"And finally, the new students of Jaden Yuki, we have, the single most destructive duelist in dueling history, I give you, The Black Rose Witch and her partner Nettle!" the announcer's speech was met with rousing boos as Akiza, dressed in her usual cloak and mask, rose onto the stage, most of the other competitors gave her dirty looks, but both her and Nettle held their heads high, relishing in the hate, soon they would feel the consequences for their actions.

"And finally, a duelist who there was absolutely nothing recorded in the system about, and no information about what so ever, the dueling enigma, The Stardust Demon and his partner Star!" As Yusei rose up, he was met with silence, no one knew what to think of the imposing figure who rose up on stage. Star had his arm crossed and was glaring at the now parked Jack with absolute loathing.

"Well, now that we have met our competitors, let's see the first round match ups!" the announcer continued, shrugging off the negative reaction the final two duelist received.

"On one side of the bracket, we have Koda, the Ice Lord, the Black Rose Witch and Leo! Leaving the Executioners Bane, Greiger, Hunter Pace and the Stardust Demon on the other side."

Yusei glanced over at his fellow competitors and his jaw dropped inside his mask. Standing next to the hyper green haired boy was Kalin Kessler, the only person who had stood by his side against Goodwin, the brother he thought he had lost forever.

"And now for the matchups!" the announcer continued. And the holographic sides of the brackets spun, rapidly, then slowly stopped. On one side, Leo was facing the Ice lord while Akiza was facing Koda, and on the other was Yusei vs Hunter and Kalin facing Greiger.

"And the matches have been decided, tomorrow, we will begin the first round, so good night everybody." The announcer said and the participants were lowered back below the stage.

 **Like I said, random posting. Next one will be the first two matches. I hope you guys like what I did, and I hope you enjoy what is to come. I'm still deciding if I want Akiza to turbo duel yet, I know Yusei will be as much as he can.**

 **Any and all questions and comments welcomed. Favs and follows wanted as well, you guys all rock.**

 **Happy Reading- Centurion Africanus**


	11. Chapter 11- frost trumps steel

**I don't own Yugioh.**

Once the contestants were led back down, Lazar was waiting for them.

"Good, welcome competitors. Now that the opening ceremonies are over, let me explain how things will work. The room we are in now is a main living space, open for all peaceful people who wish to socialize with their competitors, all in the name of sportsmanship of course. Behind me at four rooms, one representing each councilman, they contain bedrooms and small kitchens, as well as a bathroom. You will all be staying here for the duration of the tournament and will be released on the tournaments conclusion. Goodnight all." And with that, the creepy clown man was on his way.

"Well, it seems like we're all trapped here." Executioner's Bane said lazily, flopping down on one of the many couches in the main room. Watcher, his partner, flopped down next to him and fell asleep.

"Well, you're a lazy sack, wish I could have gotten you instead of that freak in the first round." Hunter said, pointing over his shoulder at Yusei, who couldn't help but grin under his mask, oh how much Hunter would wish for that he would soon see.

Akiza tapped on Yusei's shoulder and gestured to their room. Yusei nodded, and the two went silently to their room, followed closely by their partners, leaving everyone else watching them.

"Wow, those two are scary, but I'm not scared, I'm Leo, I hope you're ready to get your butt kicked Ice guy, cause you have to face the best duelist ever in the first round." Leo boasted, while holding out his hand to the Ice Lord, who only stared at him strangely while Leo's partner Gear rolled his eyes and dragged Leo away to the room designated for Joey's duelists.

"I'll beat you all tomorrow, Gear is insisting on being a kill joy since.." Leo said before he was cut off by Gear throwing him into their room and shutting the door forcefully.

"Well, he certainly has spirit, he may not win, but have caught the eye of someone like Joey at such a young age and then be entered in this tournament says the kid had loads of potential, he'll be big one day, mark my words." Greiger said, watching the door Leo had just been dragged through and could be heard complaining behind.

Inside their room, Yusei and Akiza had removed their masks and robes and went into one of the four back bedrooms off the main kitchen room in the area Jaden had provided for them. Star and Rose had a similar idea and were in another room.

The two made out for almost an hour before breaking apart and laying in each other's arms, relishing in the comfort of being in the other's presence.

"That was Kalin." Yusei said after a moment of silence, Akiza cocked an eyebrow, and Yusei explained.

"The only one who stood up for me when Goodwin confronted us. Goodwin blasted him through an entire building and security herded him away, the official statement was he was executed, but it seems he wouldn't die so easy." Yusei spoke of his old brother with longing in his voice, he had missed his family, but he had Akiza now, and she was worth more to him than all three of them put together.

"The ice lord is Dominic, the traitorous bastard who exiled me from my own kind." Akiza said bluntly, snuggling her head deeper into Yusei's chest.

"Then after you beat this Koda character, I'm sure you will be facing him, that kid may be Joey's student, but he is still just a kid, way out of his depth." Yusei assured her, resting his chin on top of Akiza's head, holding her gently, but still holding her tight to his chest, a feeling Akiza loved.

"So what do we do when this is all over, when we had our revenge, our justice?" Akiza asked, looking up at Yusei's pondering face.

"We do anything we want, we could go home, we could stay here, we could travel the world, it doesn't matter, we have our runners, we have our partners, but most importantly, we have each other, and no matter what winds up happening, we will stick together, that's a promise." Yusei told her, and Akiza teared up a little.

"I couldn't have put it better if I tried." Akiza told him softly, and Yusei chuckled.

"I'm sure you could have, seeing as you're the only one of the two of us who actually had any schooling." He joked and Akiza gave a cheery chuckle.

"You have no idea how lucky I am to have found you." Akiza said to him quietly.

"The same can be said about me." Yusei agreed. And with that the two fell asleep in each other's arms, completely absorbed in the love they shared.

"Welcome one and all, to the first round of dueling!" the dueling announcer said, his voice full of gusto, above in the viewing box, the four council men sat watching their duelists.

"I must say Joey, putting a child in a tournament of adults is just plain stupid, maybe you have gone senile." Senator Izinski mocked the older councilman, but Joey laughed him off.

"Sure he's young, but the kid has heart, and one hell of a mouth. I taught him everything he knows, and while I sure as hell don't expect him to win, he needs to compete to gain experience against tougher opponents." Joey said, a shit eating grin on his face.

"If you insist Mr. Wheeler. Just know my duelist will hold nothing back against him, it's simply how the game goes." Goodwin said in his usual superior tone.

"We'll see how this turns out, you may be surprised yet." Joey said as the first two duelists rose to the standing stage.

"And in our First Duel, we have Leo squaring off against the Ice Lord, and both with their partners Gear and Whiteout!" the announcer called from his stand. As Jaden looked down at the young boy, he didn't look nervous at all, in fact, he looked more excited than ever.

"Both contestants ready, and, DUEL!" and so the first duel began. Yusei and Akiza watched from a tv in their private room, they knew Dominic would win, they just needed to see how powerful he'd become.

"Get ready dude, cause here I come!" Leo called to Ice Lord and Leo let his magic roll of him in waves. He then suddenly, dropped and started rolling around on the ground. Most of the audience thought he had lost it, but when he got back up, he had an armor suit made of rock on, only leaving a slit for him to see.

Leo kept pouring out more magic and the stone armor he wore compressed, turning into a set of platemail, gleaming under the spotlights. He still didn't stop there, Leo kept letting his magic flow, some of it went into Gear, who began to grow into his true form, while the rest went into the field and lifted up large chunks of rocks Leo began to compress into metal.

"I may be young Ice Lord, but the biggest surprises come in the smallest packages. Now strike him now, Gear!" Leo called to his partner, who had finished transforming. In the place of the protective older boy was a large yellow metal dragon with gray spikes coming out the back of his head the same shade of Gear's hair.

The dragon gave a mighty shriek, waving its jackhammer and bulldozer arms before setting his sights on Ice Lord, who had yet to move the whole duel.

"Wow, our smallest competitor has jumped ahead, summoning his partner in full force and suiting up in some armor, this metal magician didn't come to make friends." The announcer said, as most of the more experienced duelists, both in the audience and other fellow competitors were shocked, Leo was much more powerful than anyone had expected.

"It's not going to matter, Dominic is still going to win, he's just going to have to work for it." Akiza said to Yusei as the two watched form their private room.

"I fully agree, the kid has heart though, that's for sure."

' **Watch, for he has more yet to show.'**

It was a voice both Akiza and Yusei recognized, and one they hated, but it interested them. If they were supposed to work with four other people to save the world, they could have it a lot worse than the overly spirited kid, if they decided to help at all that is.

"Go Gear, take him on, mechanical blitz!" Leo called, mimicking a punching motion. Gear charged the Ice Lord, swinging his bulldozer fist, but Gear was forced to freeze in his tracks. Literally.

Ice Lord's partner, Whiteout, had transformed while everyone else had been focused on Leo and his metal magic, Whiteout was another dragon. She had white armor covering all three of her heads and wings. The main portion of her body was a dark blue and also placed in an icy armor. Whiteout had blasted Gear with her wintery breath, coating him in ice and sending him flying back.

"Gear!" Leo cried, zipping to his partner faster than any normal human should be able to, it was like he was skating on the ground. Gear got up slowly and Leo turned back to Ice Lord, his happy spirited look on his face was gone, replaced with one of anger.

"You're going to pay for hurting my partner, and I'll show you how." Leo said in a dark voice that shouldn't belong to anyone of his age. The metal chunks Leo had floating in the air began to turn and transform, forming two set of metal weaponry. A pair of hack saws and drill heads.

The bigger set floated over to Gear and attached to his arms, giving him a magical energy boost at the same time, Gear got up slowly and the smaller set of tools attached to Leo's armor, equipping him with the same equipment as his dragon.

"You're going down frozone, let's go Gear, power tool strike!" Leo called as both he and his dragon charged.

The Ice Lord simply raised his hand and put up a thick ice shield in front of him, his dragon did the same thing.

Leo wasn't stopped by that though, and neither was Gear. In synch, they both smashed down on the shields with their drill equipment and completely destroyed the shields and continued their assault.

It was Ice lords turn to be surprised. He stumbled back just in the nick of time before Leo cut him in half with his power saw attachment. Leo grunted as his attack missed, but he kept on the offensive, swinging his arms in powerful strikes, keeping Ice Lord from catching his breath and using his magic. While Leo had power, he also moved slowly, giving Ice Lord enough time to move.

Gear was having better luck than his human counterpart. He was mostly getting his blows stopped by Whiteout throwing up ice shields at the last second, but Whiteout's left head had already been knocked out by a strong hit from Gear's tail and her right head had a deep cut running down its left side from Gear's power saw.

"This has been an incredible match, with the young underdog Leo dominating, this just goes to show age isn't everything." The announcer said, as Leo and Gear continued to crush the Ice Lord.

"Enough boy, you clearly aren't what we are searching for, it is time for me to end this." The Ice Lord said, confusing many of the people in the arena, but he had Yusei and Akiza's attention, so they weren't the only ones with a hidden agenda here, so now the question was, what does Goodwin want?

After saying those words, Ice Lord let off a blast of icy brine in a wave of power, slamming into Leo at high speeds. He was sent flying back towards the wall, but Gear broke off his attack to catch him, giving Whiteout a chance to catch her breath.

"End this Whiteout, blast the boy with winter's breath." The Ice lord said emotionlessly, and Whiteout struck at the still recovering Leo, her two conscious heads blasting powerful ice energy at the poor boy.

Leo braced himself for the freezing blow, but it never came. Gear leapt in front of Leo at the last second, taking the blow full on without any defense for himself. The poor dragon never stood a chance. He was frozen in a massive ice statue, unable to move. With Gear frozen, that left Leo alone against the cruel emotionless Ice Lord and his equally empathy lacking dragon.

"You like it little heathen, your dragon took that shot for you because you are useless. You can't protect anyone, not yourself, not your dragon, not your sister…" the Ice Lord trailed off, slowly approaching Leo, who was breathing heavy, the last one got to him, anyone could tell.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Leo growled, he was shaking, his anger was tangible at this point.

"I know more than you think, I know you have a twin sister in a coma. I know she's in a coma because of you. I know you can see and hear her spirit, detached from her body, begging for your help, but she can't hear your promises of aid, she can't hear anything you have to say, you can't protect her."

Yusei and Akiza were both disgusted and appalled with Dominic's words and actions. Enough was enough. They both stormed out of their room to go up to put an end, and it seemed they weren't alone. Security was already stopping Executioner's Bane from going up as well.

"Move, or we will move you." Akiza threatened the overly muscular body guards. Both of them paled at the sight of one of the most powerful and ruthless duelists in history but they held their ground.

"No one is to go past here and interfere with the match, any who use their magic against the security force will be sent straight to Satellite without trial or hesitation." The guard said robotically, forcing both Akiza and Yusei to back down.

Both of them stared at the screen with the other competitors, looking on at the teary eyed Leo.

"SHUTUP! SHUTUP SHUTUP SHUTUP!" Leo was shrieking, covering his ears with his hands, tears pouring down his face.

"If you want me to shut up little boy, do something about it." Ice Lord challenged, standing arrogantly over Leo, his arms crossed and a sadistic smile on his face.

"GAHHHH!" Leo gave a feral scream, and he started to glow, it was dull, but a crimson light was radiating off him, and, if one knew what they were looking for like Yusei and Akiza did, they could see a shape outlined on his forearm. It was a red mark, just like the ones they had on their own marks.

' **He is calling for your strength to defeat his foe, lend him the power to do what he must.'**

The voice called in Yusei and Akiza's heads, they felt their arms tingle, like their own marks were reacting to the boy's. They weren't going to help Leo, he may be a good kid with some serious problems, but they wanted Dominic to win, so they could punish him themselves. They suppressed their magic, keeping it from reaching out the boy, leaving him alone on the field. Stopping cruelty was one thing, helping the bot win was another.

The crimson light around Leo stared to die out, but it suddenly came back, twice as bright. While most people had to look away, Yusei and Akiza stared right into the blinding light and were shocked by what they saw. Standing next to Leo was a ghost like girl. She looked almost identical to Leo, only she wore her hair differently and she wore pink instead of the usual blue Leo wore.

The two were hugging tightly, like they hadn't done so in years. When the girl let go, she placed a hand on Leo's chest, then vanished, along with the red light. When everyone could see again, Leo was standing tall and proud, letting off enormous amounts of crimson energy.

With a wave of his hand, Leo sent a wave of crimson magic flowing into Gear, giving him enough energy to break out of the ice.

"You're going to pay now buddy, I'll stop you here and now, whatever it takes." Leo growled at Ice Lord, his eyes narrowed, and the battle really began.

Both Dragons clashed over head, smashing into each other in a battle of dominance. Leo and the Ice Lord were having a different kind duel on the ground. Both had formed swords, one of metal and the other of ice. Leo was going full offensive, his armor taking all the hits he had taken, the crimson magic still swirling around him, giving him strength beyond what should have been possible for any one duelist, even Yusei and Akiza knew they would have a hard time defeating someone with that much power if they had proper control. Leo took a two handed swing and cleaved Ice Lord's sword clean in half, giving him a healthy sized cut across his chest.

"And after looking like he was defeated, Leo has come back in a big way and has landed a serious blow on the Ice Lord." The announcer said now that he wasn't hiding under his table anymore.

"Thank you Leo, you have shown me exactly what we've been looking for." Ice lord straightened up, and snapped his fingers. In an instant, Leo was doubled over in pain, clutching his head and shrieking like a madman before passing out on the ground. When Leo passed out, Gear flew down to his side before turning human again, sporting a large array of injuries, including quite a few bite marks that were bleeding profusely.

"And it's over, Ice Lord has won this match and will be moving on to the next round." The announcer said as medical professionals rushed over to get both Leo and Gear. Several went to Ice Lord, but he shrugged them off, instead directing them to his heavily injured dragon. While Ice Lord may have beaten Leo, Whiteout lost cleanly to Gear.

"How did he do that, he just snapped his fingers, and Leo went down like a rock?" Greiger asked, flabbergasted.

"He's a psychic duelist, I'm surprised Goodwin didn't even tell you the first thing about your teammate." Akiza told him, speaking for only the second time in front of the people.

"And how would know?" Hunter asked, raising one of his bright orange eyebrows.

"I have a score to settle with him, one that will end with him either in a hospital permanently or six feet under." And with that cheery remark, Akiza and Yusei went back to their room to prepare for Akiza's duel.

Jaden was in shock, not with the outcome of the match or even how it ended, Akiza had told him about Goodwin's trained attack dog psychic duelist. And every word she said rang true. No, what surprised Jaden was the crimson power Leo released. That wasn't his own power, Jaden knew that much. It was the kind of power he felt whenever Yugi played an Egyptian God card. This was the work of a spirit god, and a powerful one at that.

' **That is but a taste of my power, and every drop will be needed to face what is to come, prepare my six signers Jaden Yuki, and this world might just live to see another day.'**

The presence was only in Jaden's mind for a moment, but Jaden was certain this was what he had been looking for, the beginning of the next war. One that didn't require one hero, but six. Jaden knew he had his work cut out for him. But this was only the beginning, He could only pray they would be ready in time for when war came, because if the power Leo showed was only a drop in the pool of what power they needed to win, then he shuddered to think what enemy they faced.

 **I know I said two duels, but this is the longest chapter yet. So you get one. My second battle sequence, I think I wrote it pretty well, with the classic let's talk for an hour while we fight that all animes have. I was trying to make a statement with this fight, that it's not just Yusei and Akiza who are darker characters, but everyone, even sweet playful Leo has some serious baggage. I basically took every scenario and thought, how could I make this as emotionally scarring as possible, then added real magic, and we have a story.**

 **Another point in case there are confused people. Unless otherwise stated, duel partners follow their human companions everywhere, kinda like a body guard, but still a friend, I'm too lazy to write them in for each and every bit of every scene.**

 **I am always looking forward to favs and follows, reviews are even better.**

 **Happy Reading- Centurion Africanus**


	12. Chapter 12- untouchable

**I don't own Yugioh**

"Now that our first duel of epic proportions is complete, let's give a warm welcome to our two next duelists. Commander Koda and the Black Rose Witch." The announcer was over his shock about what happened the prior match and was back to his usual energetic self.

Yusei was watching Akiza's duel from the main room, Star at his side. All the other competitors were there as well, except for Ice Lord and Leo, who were both receiving medical attention.

"Well, let's see what witchy can do, eh." Hunter growled, his eyes glued to the screen.

"Don't call her that." Yusei said to him, his eyes not leaving the image of both Akiza and Koda being brought up to the main level to fight, their partners, Nettle and Libros, standing at their respective partner's side.

"What, and you know better? I've seen what she can do, what she's done, if that's not the work of a witch, then I don't know what is." Hunter challenged Yusei.

"Believe what you will, but I won't stand for you calling my girlfriend a witch." That got Hunter to shut up. What type of man, or monster, could possibly enjoy the presence of the Black Rose Witch, much less have her return the sentiment.

"3…2…1…DUEL" The announcer shouted and both Akiza and Koda started to let their magic flow.

"I'll make this as fast and painless as possible for you, I have business with people higher up than you." Akiza spat at Koda, but he just laughed.

"Well, my business is with you, Black Rose Witch, I'm not going to let you cause any more damage to our city." Koda spat at Akiza, who rolled her eyes.

"You can only try." Akiza hissed at him, but Koda laughed.

"I can do more than try, I've watched every one of your duels, seen all of your tricks, set a counter measure for your each and every move. You're not going to win this, and when you lose, I have already reserved you a place in a mental ward, the trucks out back ready to take your psychopathic ass somewhere it will never be seen again." Koda was seething and the fight had yet to start.

"You can try, and I have a feeling that your truck will be taking you to the emergency ward, not me anywhere." Akiza spat at Koda, having fully lost her patience with the arrogant bastard.

And with that, Akiza thrust her magic into the ground and plant life sprouted up all over the field, lashing at Koda with the ferocity the Black Rose Witch was infamous.

Libros, Koda's duel partner covered Koda's back, both of them using light magic to disintegrate the vines before they struck.

Akiza quickly caught on and started using stone vines, slower but more effective against Koda and his light magic. Akiza got in a good hit straight across Koda's chest, sending him over his partner's head and into a wall, breaking his arm in the process.

"A good hit, but it will take more to beat me." Koda said, letting his light magic flow, some into his arm, and some into his partner. The Libros began to grow until he was nearly 10 feet tall. His eyes grew to comic size, and a dark purple book formed in his hands.

That wasn't all though, Koda's arm had snapped back into place, the bone being put back together.

"If you want to beat me, then you'll have to do better than that, because no matter how hard you hit, I'll never go down." Koda had a crazed look in his eyes, he was as loony as his partner, a monster Yusei recognized as the mad profiler.

"Then I guess I'll just hit you harder. I was going to go easy on you, just take you out and move on, but if you want to fight me so badly, I might as well humor you." Akiza mocked him, Yusei grinned from the viewing room, the poor guy had no idea what he was in for.

"Well, she's completely off her rocker." Greiger said, causing Yusei to send him a sharp glare.

"She was playing nice, now she won't." he answered, causing Greiger to give him a funny look.

"She was beating the crap out of Koda, how is that not trying?" he asked, Hunter listening in on their conversation.

"I've seen her try, it was much better than this, another thing, Nettle hasn't even moved yet, and I doubt she'll even need too." Yusei said, gesturing to the screen that showed Akiza sending a leaf storm down on Koda while Nettle was yawning in the background.

"I'll be damned…" Greiger said, his attention fully on the duel again. Yusei smirked, if only they knew how powerful his rose really was, they would be wetting themselves.

"And what a series of blows the Black Rose Witch has landed on Koda, he can barely stand!" the announcer said, and it was true, Koda was bleeding profusely and leaning on Libros heavily.

"Is that it, oh well, my turn." Koda said, once again becoming bathed in a bright light, healing him completely, the wounds that would normally need stiches closed in seconds, only leaving faint scars.

Koda and Libros charged in synch, flanking Akiza, but she only yawned, Yusei could tell she was toying with them, it wasn't often she could get consistent practice against a person, only he could stand up to her usually, now she found a dummy who she could keep beating and would always get back up.

Akiza whipped her vines in a circle, like she did in Satellite, and sent them straight for Koda's head. Koda couldn't dodge completely, and ended up getting his arm almost ripped off by the blow. His shoulder was clearly dislocated and covered in blood.

"I'll beat you yet, it's only a matter of time." Koda said to Akiza, spitting out some blood, then went to heal himself, but he never got the chance. Akiza had intentionally knocked him straight in front of Nettle, who proceeded to give him a magic fueled punch in the back of the head while still in her human form, making him crumple, completely unconscious, arm still gushing blood.

"And that takes care of that." Akiza said matter-o-factly, before sending her magic backwards blindly and catching Libros in a tight crush of vines and sending him flying into a far wall, and watched as he crumpled in a heap.

"And we have a winner! The Black Rose Witch dominates in the first round, not even letting her opponent land a hit on her or even bringing out her partner's true power. This tournament might have ended the second she entered!" the announcer was going crazy, but the fans were much less excited.

Boos rained down from the crowd onto Akiza, and she relished in it. The crazy freak she had beaten the crap out of had threatened to send her to a mental facility for the rest of her life, she had every right to defend herself. And the crazed commander had said she hurt innocent people, bullshit, she only targeted the worst people in the city. Drug dealers, duel sprite sellers, Goodwin, and so forth. She was hated for being different, for being better.

When she went back down to the main room, three duelists were staring in shock, the forth was Yusei.

She waited for a second to see if any of them had anything to say to her, when the three said nothing, she took Yusei's hand and the two went back to their room, and proceeded to make out until they fell asleep, like they always did.

Jaden was blown away, he knew his students were powerful, but to obliterate a professional without as much as a scratch, and barely using a fraction of her power. She had simply played with the man before ending it at her own whim.

"Well, she certainly lives up to the title." Joey said from Jaden's left where he had wheeled himself up to join Jaden in watching the crews preparing for the next day's duels, which would both be turbo duels.

"She most certainly does, I will be honest, she scares the shit out of me, they both do." Jaden admitted to his elderly friend.

"Well, Leo gave me quite the scare as well, I have no idea how he did that red magic thing, and how he lost raises a few flags in my mind." Joey said, giving Jaden a sideways glance.

"I agree, this ice lord is most certainly a dangerous psychic duelist, I have an idea where Goodwin found him, but it isn't a happy thought.

"You are thinking he was the leader of the psychic rebellion, the one Goodwin made 'peace' with?" Joey asked, putting air quotes around peace.

"I do, I also have a deep suspicion that he isn't the only psychic in the mix." Jaden said, letting Joey know of his suspicion with a subtle hand gesture.

"If mind control was a known psychic power, I would agree fully, but aside from probable cases of that, we have no evidence." Joey pointed out to his younger friend, who gave a defeated sigh.

"I know, but I think I finally have proof, it's just a matter of getting it out." Jaden said and Joey gave him an inquisitive look

"My students, they are not who they seem, they give the image of villains, but they have been hurt, deeply, by those they care most about from what I've put together. And in their lowest moments, the found each other, and they never looked back." Jaden told Joey, who laughed.

"A couple then, hope they aren't keeping you and Alexis up too late." Joey laughed and Jaden groaned.

"They don't but their partners are mating dragons who go at it every other night." Jaden complained, causing Joey to laugh harder.

"Well my friend, you have it rough, I give it about a week or two until they're doing it too." Joey laughed and Jaden groaned

"You're enjoying my pain, aren't you?" Jaden asked and Joey gave him a grin.

"Of course, just like I enjoyed Yugi's when he was training you." Joey said, causing Jaden to roll his eyes.

"Haha, laugh all you want, I'm sure you're students can be just as bad." Jaden said and Joey shook his head.

"Leo is excitable, but Gear mostly keeps him in line, Kalin is the one with issues." Joey said and Jaden gave him a questioning look.

"Executioner's Bane, he wanted to be anonymous, just like your two. He's got no memory. His record was burned out when they tried to inject the usual killing poison through his mark, only his name was on the case file. Other than that, the kid has nothing, no idea who he is or where he came from. He met his partner after so Watcher doesn't know anything either." Joey told him and Jaden sighed.

"I don't know much about my two either, not even their last names, they just gave me their first, Yusei and Akiza, I know they hate Goodwin and Jack, and I'm pretty sure Akiza has some business with the Ice Lord guy. Other than that, I'm just as lost as you are." Jaden told joey, who gave him a pondering look.

"I know those names, might take me a while to remember from where though, you know how it is, I'm old." Joey laughed at his own expense.

"Sure Joey, tell me when you remember." Jaden told him, and the two went their separate ways. The next day would be an interesting one, turbo duels, and Jaden could see what his other student was capable of.

Kalin laid alone in the multiroom apartment like complex under the stadium. His duel was the second one the next day, meaning he could watch the Stardust Demon duel against Hunter Pace. There was something about the Demon, and his dragon, that felt familiar to Kalin.

He knew him from somewhere, and from the side glances he had been giving Kalin the whole day, he knew who he was as well. He had told Joey he remembered nothing, but that wasn't true, he remembered three things. Three names, three faces.

Jack, Crow, and Yusei.

He knew Jack would fight the winner of the tournament, that's why he wanted in in the first place, but now that he was in, he didn't know why he was in anymore. Was it that the Stardust Demon was one of the other two people he remembered, or was he someone else.

Kalin fell asleep that night more uneasy than ever, thinking about who he was, and what he would become.

 **Bing bang boom, chapter written. I wanted to emphasize how powerful Yusei and Akiza are compared to everyone else, and I don't really like Koda, so he got his ass kicked.**

 **Next fight is Yusei vs Hunter in a turbo duel, so I'll have to figure out how to write one of those, fun.**

 **Kalin is going to play a crucial role in the story, so stay tuned to him, he's more than he seems, nudge nudge wink wink.**

 **Happy reading everyone, and if you like the story, please fav and follow, if not, I am open to opinions, just tell me what you think and I work best with feedback.**

 **-Centurion Africanus**


	13. Chapter 13- high speed crush

**I don't own Yugioh**

Yusei was nervous. He was sitting on his runner, waiting in the opening gate, completely alone. Hunter was in a gate across the arena.

"You guys ready?" Yusei asked the duel sprites around him, to which he received many determined responses. He had decided with Star that he wasn't going to bring Star to full power until he faced Jack, or Akiza if she wanted.

He had his five most loyal duel sprites by his side, and Star was waiting in the arena already, alongside Lucifer, Hunter's partner.

"In the first match of the day, and the first turbo duel of the tournament, who's ready to see sparks fly!" the announcer shouted from within the arena, Yusei couldn't help but smirk, he'd let Hunter throw the sparks, he'd stick to his wind magic.

"First, the ex-world champion, here to reclaim his title, I give you Hunter Pace, and his partner, Lucifer!" Yusei heard Hunter's runner give a vicious roar as it sped around the track.

"And his opponent, the mysterious, the unknown, the Stardust Demon, and his partner Star!" Yusei sped out of the tunnel silently, not bothering to hit his throttle, he wasn't here to put on a show, he was here to trash this hot head, and move on to the next round.

"Well boy, time to get dueling, and you'll see why I was the champion, and why I will be again." Hunter boasted to Yusei as the two of them pulled up to the starting line. Yusei didn't respond, he just smirked under his mask as his duel sprite friends prepared themselves for what Yusei knew would be a quick match full of surprises, for everyone else at least.

"3…2…1… DUEL" The announcer cried and Hunter took off like he was shot out of a gun, his hellfire magic spewing from his duel runner's tailpipes.

Yusei was right on him, just barely avoiding the hellfire shooting out of Hunter's bike.

"You're toast buddy, let's go Lucifer, give him hell!" Hunter called, and shot his magic into his partner. Lucifer grew into a centaur like figure, his horse like legs were plated in a gold armor, like a knight, but his upper half was anything but. Lucifer's upper half looked like a skeletal grim reaper. His chest was all bone, and his arms were cloaked in dark cloth. Lucifer's face had morphed into a dark formless ball of shadows, contained within the skull helmet he wore.

Then there was the fire. His head and tops of his arms were alight with hell fire. He also had a cape that looked completely out of place, but Yusei was only focused on one thing.

Lucifer took off the race along next to Hunter, who was a solid 20 feet in front of Yusei, laughing his head off.

"My game's speed boy, you'll never catch me!" Hunter shouted in glee, pulling on his throttle even more, going even faster. Yusei rolled his eyes. Hunter thought he had Yusei trapped behind him because of the hellfire he was shooting out of the back of his runner, but Yusei knew that Hunter would eventually run out of energy, his magic would fade and he'd be a sitting duck.

Yusei was going to just wear him out and win that way, but he remembered how thoroughly Akiza humiliated Koda, he wanted to that to this arrogant hot head. In a lot of ways, Hunter was just like Jack, and that gave Yusei all the inspiration he needed to crush the ex-champion.

Yusei his magic flow into two of his sprite friends, time for his big trick to be revealed. From their sprite forms, Junk Warrior and Junk Archer grew and charged Hunter. Yusei used his magic to propel Junk Warrior forward, and he landed straight on Lucifer, bringing them both tumbling on the track. Yusei swerved to avoid them while Junk Archer rained down hell on Hunter.

"What the fuck is going on, how did these monsters get here!?" Hunter was panicking, completely losing his cool.

"Oh, you mean my friends, yeah, they don't like arrogant assholes like you, so I gave them a little power boost so they could teach you a lesson." Yusei called back, enjoying the sight of Hunter panicking, swerving all over the place to avoid Junk Archer's shots, but he had taken a few hits, and his runner was starting to smoke.

Both Hunter and Yusei swerved to avoid the clashing Junk warrior and Lucifer as they made their way around the track. As they passed, Yusei called to the brawling warrior.

"Finish him, Scrap Fist!" Yusei called to his friend, charging his with even more magic, Junk Warrior's fist swelled with magic force, and he put it to good use, smashing into Lucifer at full force, sending him into the middle of the stadium, leaving a trench in his wake.

"And down goes Lucifer! Hunter Pace is really in a bad place now, partnerless, running low on magic, and with a slowing runner, how will the ex-champ come back?" The announcer was once again terrified of the duel occurring on the field.

"He won't" Yusei said simply and directed magic into the third of his five duel sprite friends.

"Rise, Nitro Warrior, finish this poor excuse for a duelist, Dynamite Crunch!" Yusei called to his newly formed warrior, who cannoned off after Hunter, who only had a glance back before both he and his runner were crushed by Nitro Warrior.

When the dust cleared, Hunter was laying, with several limbs at angles that limbs weren't supposed to be in, on the ground, out cold. His flaming runner wasn't just trashed, it was crushed and completely ripped in half.

"And we have a winner, just as his teammate before him, the Stardust Demon wins without so much as a scratch or even using his partner! He instead only used his magic to power up nearby duel sprites and sent Pace packing!" the announcer was calling to the shocked fans, who watched as Yusei and Star both returned back to their quarters, where they were met only by Akiza, who had the entire area to herself as the other competitors were all either in the hospital, dueling, or waiting in the wings for the duel following Yusei's.

"I have to admit, that was easier than I expected, I didn't even have to attack him." Yusei told Akiza as he peeled his mask off, giving her a solid kiss that was drawn out for a bit before Akiza pulled away.

"We can continue later, for now, we have a guest coming down and a duel to watch, I know you don't want to miss your old buddy's duel." Akiza said with a smile, and Yusei smiled right back at the beautiful girl he held in his arms.

"Oh course my love, and what guest do we have coming our way?" Yusei asked

"Jaden wants to watch the next duel alongside us, so that means no making out and only half paying attention to whatever he says like we usually do." She joked with him and Yusei gave her a big smile before returning the jest

"Who says that should stop us?" he asked, scooping her up into his chest, kissing her once again, not even paying attention when they heard the elevator open.

Jaden was once again both impressed and terrified of the power his student's had. Yusei may not have as much raw power as Akiza, but with his power, he could destroy the entire city if he wanted too.

As he and Neos descended in the elevator, he pondered how to address his students now. Alone they could give him a run for his money, together, they could destroy the world. When Yusei revealed his power to the world, his ability to power all duel sprites, both Goodwin and Senator Izinski turned to stuttering fools. It made Jaden feel good that Goodwin didn't have an answer for everything like he led people to believe. But it also surprised both him and Joey, no one should have that kind of power, not even someone Jaden believed could grow to be a hero.

When the elevator opened, he had to resist groaning. His students were standing in the middle of the room, making out, again.

Jaden had been walking in on the two of them making out since the first day they were at his house, and they didn't seem to be stopping that habit anytime soon.

Their dragons weren't even in the room, they were off in the other room, Jaden could hear them, once again, a habit he wished would stop.

"Alright you two, how many times do I have to tell you to get a room?" Jaden complained loudly while Neos face palmed.

"A few more times might do it." Akiza told him snarkily, giving Yusei a long kiss before pulling away from him and giving Jaden a long smirk. Jaden groaned and rolled his eyes. Akiza was actually quite the trickster from time to time, but it was much better than her being cold and volatile to everybody except Yusei at all times.

"Great, just perfect, now just go sit down you two, the last duel of the first round is about to start, and Goodwin ' _oh so graciously_ ' gave me the chance to watch it with my two duelists." Jaden told them, plopping down on the same couch Kalin had flopped down onto the first night.

"Goodwin is a twisted corrupted sycophantic lowlife murderer." Yusei found the chance to voice his opinions, sitting on the opposite couch, Akiza on his lap.

"I have yet to see him kill someone, but other than that, I agree with you entirely." Jaden said, waiting to see his pupil's reactions.

"When this is all over, we'll show you some proof." Akiza said mysteriously.

"Sure, better late than never. "Jaden said, waving his hand in a dismissive way.

"One question before the duel begins, Yusei and I were curious about all the cards that came before the magic, would you happen to have any of these cards we could look at?" Akiza asked Jaden, whose mind instantly sprung to life with wonderings.

"Yeah, I think I have some lying around, might even find my old deck." Jaden said, watching both Akiza and Yusei's faces stretch into wide grins.

"Could we get them before our next duels by any chance?" Yusei asked, an eagerness in his voice than put Jaden on guard, excitement wasn't something Yusei expressed often, if at all.

"I'll do the best I can, It'll depend on how fast Ice face and the winner of this duel recover." Jaden told them and Akiza gave a satisfied nod.

"Then let's enjoy watching Yusei's old friend kick Goodwin's duelist to the curb." Akiza said cheerily, giving Jaden tens of questions, but they were all cut off by the start of the next duel.

 **I HATE SCHOOL SOMETIMES. I got a grand total of 12 hours of sleep this past week, and it's not even finals yet. This chapter got written by the grace of some deity.**

 **Any positive method of reinforcement welcomed, favs, follows, reviews.**

 **Happy reading- Centurion Africanus**


	14. Chapter 14- Shadow Awakening

**I don't own Yugioh**

As Kalin and Greiger shot out of their respective gates, Yusei couldn't help but be excited for a duel that wasn't his own or Akiza's. Kalin had been the only person who defended him and, after Akiza and Martha, he was the best friend Yusei had.

"Ok Yusei, I want you to be watching these two duel closely, while I know you are confident in your power, it's always good to watch your opponents and pick up tendencies they have that could be used to your advantage." Jaden instructed his pupil, but Yusei shrugged him off, he knew how Kalin dueled, and he knew Kalin could beat most anybody, he had powerful darkness magic, and now he had a partner, something he didn't have back in the day, Watcher would be who Yusei was keeping an eye on, something about her rubbed him the wrong way.

"3…2…1…DUEL" the announcer cried through the TV, drawing all attention from the three of them and their spirit partners to the screen, where the duel they would watch would be the most interesting and terrifying yet.

 **Line Break**

Kalin was nervous. He knew he was dueling a pro, he had watched footage, Greiger would work his opponents into a corner, like animals and finish them off without mercy, his partner was a mechanical monstrosity, but Kalin wasn't worried about that, he had researched and worked out a plan with Joey the second he heard who his opponent would be.

In fact, he had a plan to handle everyone here, except the Stardust Demon. From the blurry videos after the Facility's destruction, something Kalin had wanted to happen for as long as he could remember, he also had a dragon for a partner, like himself. From the way both he and his partner carried themselves, they had power, a fact he proved in his first duel, he wasn't even challenged. He had taken the once champion, who was still in his prime, and tossed him around like a ragdoll.

Kalin wanted to find out more, to plan, it was what Joey tried to teach him, but in the end, it boiled down to emotion and instinct, the same way Joey had dueled back in the day. Joey had him fighting against the way he knew he was supposed to be dueling, with his mind instead of his heart.

But today Kalin was going to change that, he was going to find himself, and Watcher was going to help him. Kalin went back to his earliest memories, people were trying to kill him, and they kept failing. At the end of each day, they would put magic restraining cuffs on him and send him back to his cell with Watcher. She told him not to worry, that no matter what, he would continue on, and Kalin kept his brave face on for five days, then Joey came and pulled him out of the hell he was in, away from the torture.

And now he had a chance to get his old life back, to find who he really was. Watcher had told him he was a hero, a protector of the week and a savior to the voiceless, and above all else, loyal to a fault, willing to die for a friend.

Only now he didn't know who his friends were, who would he die for. He remember three names and faces, but upon researching, two didn't exist, the third was a pompous ass who wouldn't meet with anyone who wasn't offering him a sponsorship, or an attractive fan offering herself to him, which he always accepted.

"3…2…1…Duel" the announcer cried over the speaker system and that brought Kalin away from his musings, he could think about his past later, he would focus on dueling now. He revved the engine on his dark colored runner and took off down the tunnel, ready to meet Greiger, to fight for his identity.

Kalin's first thought when he got into the arena was the size of Greiger's runner. The thing was a massive three wheeled chopper, with a skull by the handlebars and covered in spikes, it certainly was something no amount of research could prepare for, good thing he was dueling with his heart instead of his mind.

"I got nothing against you kid, but the boss wants this Demon guy to go down, and it'll be my job to bring him to his knees, so you'll have to go, I apologize in advance for any injuries you may receive." Greiger spoke in a calm tone, but the cockiness could be seen behind his calm visage, Greiger would regret mocking him. An anger stirred within him, one he had never felt.

Kalin felt the anger connect him with Watcher, and suddenly, Watcher grew to her full size, giving a roar of triumph.

"And Executioner's Bane is off to a fast start, getting his partner into action immediately, now let's see how Greiger counters." The announcer was doing his job as Watcher took flight and flew above Kalin, waiting for instructions, her many eyes covering her draconic body unnerving most of the crowd.

"Give him hell!" Kalin called to his partner, letting the anger roll over his senses, letting it dominate his mind, empowering him.

Watcher gave a shriek of agreement and shot a dark beam from her mouth on a collision course with Greiger, who swerved out of the way at the last second, only feeling the backsplash of the hit.

"You're not the only one who can attack with a partner, get him Striker!" Greiger sent a blast of magic towards his partner, meant to bring him to his full potential, but Kalin felt his gut direct him, and he sent a dark bolt of his own to collide into Greiger's shot, causing an explosion, but keeping it from reaching his partner.

"What the hell!" Greiger cried in surprise, and went to try again, but Kalin was on him, using his smaller runner to zip through the wheels of Greiger's massive ride, shooting little shots at the supports, causing the whole system to groan in protest.

Kalin was going to strike again, but Greiger had sent a hailstorm of metal spikes at him, forcing to swerve away, but not before getting hit heavily. His magic dampeners took a lot off the blow and kept him from being cut to ribbons, but he still received a large cut across his arm.

"And even though he was blocked from summoning his partner, Greiger manages to land a hit on his opponent, giving him the leg up in this fight!" the announcer was peering over his booth at the fast paced duel as it passed below him.

"You fight dirty eh kid, well, time to show you why cheap tricks won't work against me!" Greiger gave a wave of his hand and his magic manipulated ripped part of the track up, condensing it to metal, while another part tore away at the large metal block Greiger had at the back of his runner, ammo for the metal duelist. Greiger mashed his hands together and the two metals collided and formed several barrel shaped projectiles that Greiger sent crashing down into the track with a flick of his wrist.

Kalin swerved and avoided the objects embedded into the track as he followed Greiger around the track.

"That was a waste of time and magic Greiger, now get ready to go down!" Kalin called to Greiger as both he and Watcher shot beams of dark energy and the huge man and his runner. The runner took a serious beating, it was barely holding together at this point, but Greiger has shielded himself with a shield of metal, keeping his from any damage more serious than a bruise.

"You call it waste of time, I call it the perfect diversion!" Greiger said as he shot another bolt of energy to power Striker, but once again, Kalin blocked him, but Greiger wasn't the only source of magic towards his partner. One of the barrels he had previously stuffed into the track shot a powerful bolt at Striker, this time managing to hit him, unleashing his true form.

"Rise Striker, the Flying Fortress Sky Fire" Greiger gave an angered shout as his partner stormed Watcher, multiple machine guns on its body raining down on Kalin, forcing him to put up a darkness barrier or be torn to bits.

"And here comes wave two!" Greiger said as he passed over the remaining barrels on the track. As Kalin caught up to where he was, Greiger gave a wave of him arm, and the barrels that Kalin was in the middle of all exploded.

"And he goes up in flames. Greiger triggers his landmines and blows Executioner's Bane to bits, it looks like this duel is over.

"NOT EVEN CLOSE" Kalin yelled as he rode his runner out of the smoke, covered in a purple barrier. Kalin was covered in cuts, bits of shrapnel lodged in his chest and limbs, and a nasty gash along his forehead, and his runner wasn't in much better shape, but he was still going, and he was out for blood.

"Watcher, time to play king of the hill, first, we topple the fortress." Kalin cried, his eyes glowing a black light as he directed his dragon at Greiger's partner.

Watcher gave a cry of approval and blasted Striker with a beam of shadows, driving him into the floor of the arena.

Watcher wasn't the only one attacking the poor spirit though, Watcher's shadow had come to life, and what happened next gave even Akiza and Yusei chills.

Watcher's shadow rose from the ground and changed its shape, into the blurry from of a giant. The amount of power radiating from the behemoth was overwhelming for most people, even Jaden was frozen in his seat across from Yusei and Akiza.

Leo felt the presence from his hospital bed, where Gear and Luna's spirit were watching over him. Both his and Luna's arms glowed with a crimson, like in the duel against the Ice Lord.

Yusei and Akiza's arms glowed too, the same crimson color it did whenever the ancient deity contacted them.

Two others felt the glow, and they reacted in different ways. One had no idea what it meant and shrugged it off, the other let a wolfish grin slip over their face, just another sign he was king.

Jaden couldn't believe what he was seeing. He was most certain that Watcher was unwilling being an anchor for an ancient and powerful shadow being, one that rivaled and maybe even surpassed the power that the Light of Destruction held.

"Now destroy his partner, shadow grip!" Kalin's voice was unnaturally high, like he had been force fed helium, and the dark light in his eyes had only grown stronger. Kalin was completely out of control.

The shadow giant grabbed Striker in one of its huge fists and held it in front of Watcher, who let loose her most powerful blast yet from hardly two feet away. Striker never stood a chance. He was blasted back and forced back into his human form, unconscious and bloody.

The shadow giant tossed him aside and turned on Greiger. It lifted its leg and crushed the duelist under his foot, causing Greiger's runner to explode, potentially killing the man.

"And it's over, the Executioner's Bane lets loose a massive shadow beast and crosses of Greiger, hopefully not for good." The announcer was even more terrified than when both Yusei and Akiza dueled.

"And our second round face-offs will be the Black Rose Witch taking on the Ice Lord and Executioner's Bane will square off with the Stardust Demon. We'll keep you posted with the recovery of all duelists as the only ones ready for action now the Black Rose Witch and the Stardust Demon. Thankyou everyone, and goodnight." And with that the announcer signed off

And all those knowledgeable in matters of the spirit world were left to wonder, what the hell was it that Kalin summoned, that had rendered Greiger incapable of casting a simple spell with just it's presence, and how was anyone going to stop it.

And those bearing the crimson marks, par one, could only stare in disbelief as their enemy revealed itself to the world.

War had begun, even if no one knew it yet.

 **Happy Summer everyone, I am free at last.**

 **I plan on writing as much as I can for the duration of the summer, but my laptop got busted and I'm working off an old slow monitor so that may hinder the process.**

 **I hope everyone gets to take advantage of the warmer months and enjoy one of man's greatest inventions, air conditioning.**

 **Happy Reading- Centurion Africanus**


	15. Chapter 15- the frozen rose

**I don't own Yugioh**

As it would happen, Akiza and Yusei had plenty of time to go over Jaden's old cards. It took Jaden two days to get them all over there, and Akiza ended up having another week after that before Ice Lord was deemed ready to duel, and then another three days before his partner was, plenty of time to find some new tricks to use.

"Ladies and gentlemen, after the long wait, we are ready to continue!" the announcer said over the loud speaker, the crowd gave a cheer, everyone preparing for an action packed duel.

"First, he ended his first match with a snap of his fingers, he is the king of cold, ladies and gentlemen, the Ice Lord and his partner Whiteout!" Ice Lord slowly walked to his end of the arena, his crisp white hair blowing lightly in the wind. His face was emotionless, and his partner was the same.

"And his opponent, arguably the most powerful duelist seen to date, the only competition being her own teammate, the queen of destruction, the terror of the streets, The Black Rose Witch!"

Akiza walked out of her end of the tunnel, followed closely by Nettle. She scoffed at the announcer's description of her, bias much.

Akiza refocused on Dominic, he had changed since she had seen him all those years ago. He had always had white hair and pale skin, but the tattoos were new, and his eyes had changed, they had once been a light blue, always full of emotion, but now they had faded, they looked white at first glance instead of blue, and they were completely emotionless, dead.

"I'm going to end you for what you did to my brother." He growled once the two of them were in earshot of each other.

"Blame me all you want, but the man responsible is the one you now work for, you are a disgrace to his memory." Akiza spat right back at him, causing him to growl, both of them were whipping their magic up around them, preparing to fight. Akiza knew she might need Nettle's help, but she had faith in her own abilities, and would keep Nettle as a last resort.

"Lies, Goodwin showed me the truth, you are responsible, and now I'm going to freeze your efforts to hide from justice, this is the end of the line for you, Black Rose Witch, you aren't going to make it out of this arena alive." His voice with fueled with anger and hate like Akiza had never seen before, if he was really going to try and kill her, then it was time to bring her A game, no holds barred.

"3…2…1…DUEL!" the announcer said and both Akiza and Ice Lord jumped into action, both throwing their magic rapidly at each other, both ignoring their partners.

"I'm glad you agree this is between us, no need for partners." Ice Lord spat at her, shooting icicles at her at a rapid pace. Akiza jumped and rolled through all of them, but one snagged he cloak and pulled it off her, leaving her in her normal clothing and her mask.

"Of course, I want to bring you down myself." Akiza hissed, countering his icicles with a barrage of sharpened leaves, knocking him back a few feet, resulting in an array of small cuts across his body.

"We shall see." He said, his magic whipping up around him, sending snow spiraling around the arena.

"And both competitors has jumped into action, both using immense amounts of magic, but they're at a standstill." The announcer said over the roar of the crowd, who was booing both sides of the fight, it would seem there wasn't a fan favorite here.

Akiza and Ice Lord kept whipping magic at each other, each blast filled with enough psychic power to bring down an army, but both of them managed to dodge the other, remaining unharmed.

Akiza knew this was going nowhere, while she wasn't fatigued yet, she soon would be, and Ice Lord seemed to have the same thought as her, both of them stopping their intense clash at the same time.

"I see you still have the same worn out moves Witch, care to show me something new, or is that all you got?" he mocked Akiza, but she let is wash over her, she still had plenty left, all of it having the potential to end the duel.

"You want to see something new?" she teased him, her voice adopting a fake innocence, "Then how about a little garden?" she took a large amount of magic and thrust it into the ground, picturing the card she had found in Jaden's collection. She had her own version of it before, but seeing the card and its natural abilities made a much better use of her magic.

A mass of vines sprouted up around both her and Ice Lord, forming a dome around them. Akiza quietly slipped more magic into the field, placing her little surprises randomly around the arena, then she focused of the middle, and a large black rose bloomed, but it was more than it appeared to be. Akiza grinned, time for a show.

"What do you think, a little much?" she asked Ice Lord, who was looking up at the mass of vines keeping him trapped.

"I think you are still going to die." He said, and continued his assault of snow and ice.

Akiza swiftly jumped out of the way, sending her magic at him, and he jumped behind the large rose she had put in the middle, just like she planned. The raw magic went into the rose, and shot out the other side, straight into the unsuspecting Ice Lord.

The direct hit from the redirected magic threw him backwards, straight into one of the rose bombs Akiza had set.

Ice lord landed dead onto the explosive and it sent him flying, Akiza quickly smacked him towards another one, and he exploded again.

That pattern continued until Akiza was out of bombs.

"The hell was that." Ice Lord wheezed out, he couldn't even stand, he was on his hands and knees, panting for breath, his mind had undergone a serious assault, driving him to the brink of unconsciousness.

"What, the Rose bombs, or are you feeling the effect of my poison rose, it took my magic and blasted it into you, giving you only a few minutes before you pass out." Akiza said with a grin, she had won.

"It's not over yet witch." Ice Lord spat, slowly rising to his feet like a man possessed. His eyes were glowing white and his skin had ice slowly growing over it.

"How can you still stand, much less walk, you shouldn't be able to move?" Akiza asked, quickly backing up from her opponent, but it was too late. Ice Lord let loose a close range blast that Akiza couldn't hope to dodge.

Akiza panicked for a second, but quickly recomposed herself and hit the deck, bringing the ground in front of her up to block the majority of the attack, but several pieces of ice got through and gave her a long cut across her leg.

Akiza felt the psychic force of the attack, and she grimaced in pain, slowly standing up to face the now fully ice coated Ice Lord, and his freshly awakened dragon partner.

"How are you still going?" Akiza asked, letting some aloe plants grows along her leg, stopping the bleeding of the cut.

"I froze all the blood in my body, I can't move, but I am completely impervious to all non-fire attacks, I am completely untouchable, and now, your arrogance will be your downfall, finish her Whiteout!" Ice Lord said from his personal ice statue and Akiza had to move quickly to avoid the three headed dragon's icy breath.

"And the tables have turned, the Black Rose Witch had a major advantage over Ice Lord, but now she is the one on the defensive as Ice Lord makes himself immune to all her strikes, and has Whiteout on the move!" the announcer said as Akiza once again leapt out of the way of the dragon's attacks.

Akiza knew she had to do something, but what, she was an earth duelist, not a fire duelist. She had to think of a way to incapitate the dragon, then take out Dominic.

 _Remember Akiza, if you ever need help, just remember, I'm here with you, never forget that. You will never be alone again._

Yusei's voice echoed through her mind and Akiza made up her mind. She couldn't win by herself, no matter how much she wanted to. She needed help, and she knew where to get some. Time for the full wrath of the Black Rose Witch to be felt by the city once again.

Akiza ran towards the three headed dragon, surprising both the dragon and the crowd, only Yusei knew what she was doing, he couldn't help but grin, this was going to get Akiza's point across.

Akiza slid under Whiteout's legs, pulling the garden in on herself, catching the dragon in a crush of vines. Akiza sent a storm of leaves at Ice Lord, blinding him temporarily so she could execute her plan. Once she was clear of both of them, Akiza sent most of her remaining energy into Nettle, letting her dragon loose.

"You almost had me." Akiza told statue Ice Lord, "But I remembered what a friend told me, I'm never alone unless I drive everyone willing to help me away. I know my own limits when I'm alone, but I have no limits when I have Nettle. Now it's time to finish this, Go Nettle, Black Rose Gale!" Akiza yelled to her fully formed dragon.

Nettle gave a roar of approval, blasting the three headed dragon completely across the field, bringing the once mighty dragon to the ground, utterly defeated by a single blow.

"Oh how the tables have turned, from on the run, to back in charge, the Black Rose Witch has completely turned the duel around in her favor." The announcer said, as enthusiastic as ever, despite being terrified.

"It doesn't matter, you used too much energy to over charge your pathetic dragon, you maybe have enough energy for one more spell, and it won't do you any good, I'm invincible right now, I'll just wear you down until you collapse, or maybe finish you in one move." Ice Lord taunted and Akiza grimaced, she had a plan, one that would bring this frozen terror down for good, but she was going to have to take a big time hit for it to be successful.

"Then hit me as hard as you can, I don't think you're strong enough." Akiza taunted him, bracing herself for the hit she was about to take.

"Is that so, then take this, Icy Blast!" Ice Lord let off a massive blast of raw ice magic directly at Akiza. Akiza quickly poured the last of her magic into one last spell. It was a risky move, but she was confident in herself.

As the ice blast hit the spell Akiza put up, she gave a shriek of pain and was blasted back, setting her plan was in motion.

"You see Witch, there is nothing you can do, I won this fight the moment it began, and you're going to die now." Ice Lord spat at her, but Akiza laughed.

"You're right, it is over, but I win, you see, I put up a little trap for you, a spell called Rose Curse. It takes the damage I would take and doubles it, but it becomes plant damage, so none of your psychic power got through." Akiza said, coughing up blood, she knew Yusei was probably worried sick about her, but she had already won this match.

"Why would you double the damage to yourself, do you finally feel remorse for what you have done, do you want to die?" Ice Lord taunted, not noticing the magic that was forming in front of him.

"I never said that was all my spell did. It also shoots back twice the damage I took back at you, four times the damage you originally attacked with, but that's not all, the strike going back your way is so powerful, that all the petals being shot at you go so fast, they catch on fire, let's see how you avoid that." Akiza told him with a grin, slowly and shakily getting back to her feet, watching with glee as the curse activated, blasting a storm of flaming petals cannoned in Ice Lord, shattering his ice armor, sending him flying back into his partner, unconscious and barely clinging to life.

"And we have a winner, after a back and forth match, the Black Rose Witch pulls out a tremendous victory, using her opponent's strength against him!" the announcer was ecstatic as the cameras in the arena all shown down on Akiza's beaten and slightly bloody form.

She looked up at the images of herself being displayed all over the arena. She had blood trickling down from the inside of her mask, and various cuts covering her body. She was a mess, but she was victorious.

Nettle, now back in her human form, made her way past the swarm of medical workers, and helped Akiza back to the tunnel she had come up from, apparently she wasn't hurt enough to require medical attention.

Yusei was waiting for her in the private room designated for Jaden's duelists, he had prepped plenty of medical supplies and set right to work patching her up, starting with the cut on her leg.

"Was beating him everything you thought it would be." Yusei asked her, and she answered him with a light kiss, pulling herself back before it got any further.

"It was wonderful, I would have preferred taking less damage, and not having to use the curse, but it was still a win, I made my point." She told him as he finished bandaging her up.

"Good, let's get some rest then, you must be exhausted." Yusei told her softly, giving her a light kiss before the two of them lay down together and fell asleep, and despite being cut up and worn out, Akiza had never felt more at peace, or more loved.

 **Line break**

Jaden was seriously impressed, with both duelists. Her could tell Akiza could have won dozens of other ways, and at earlier intervals of the battle, but she once again played with her opponent, only growing serious when Ice Lord rose up to the challenge.

"Well then, I have been informed by my medical staff that Councilman Wheeler's remaining duelist will be cleared for action the day after next, his partner at the same time." Goodwin told his fellow council men, a false smile plastered across his face.

"Of course director, and Mr. Yuki, while I originally questioned your choice in duelists, but now I'm certain of it, you have two overpowered psychopaths as students, I'd keep a close eye on them if I were you." Senator Izinski said to Jaden, while packing his briefcase up.

"Are they? You'll notice none of the medical assistants went to aid my duelist after her match, her partner just helped her off the field back to the holding area, where I'm sure her teammate was waiting with an abundance of medical supplies. You call them crazed and in need of imprisonment, but ask yourself this, why are they like this?" Jaden reposed an answer, but the senator shrugged him off.

"They were born rotten, the Witch may be from the city originally, but the other one is Satellite scum." He said with a wave of his hand, causing a paper from within his briefcase to fall to Jaden's feet.

Jaden picked it up and held in a gasp. It was a missing person's report, from duel Academy. The picture stapled to the paper looked like a younger version of Akiza, Jaden was certain of it.

"Why do you have this?" Jaden asked the Senator, holding up the paper.

"That's my daughter, she's been missing for years and no one, not sector security, not my private security forces, no one, can find her." For a second, the cold hard façade the senator put up was broken and Jaden saw who was really underneath. A sad lonely broken man, one who had most everything, except the one thing he wanted most.

But Jaden remembered what Akiza had told him. How her father had belittled her, alienated her, made her feel worthless. If he was right, and he usually was, then this man was looking for his daughter for another reason besides love, he wanted her contained, imprisoned. He clearly knew of her talents, her psychic powers, but he had yet to put the pieces together that his daughter was the very person who just fought in front of him.

"Well, I'll keep my eyes open Senator, have a good night." Jaden told him, handing back the paper to the senator.

"And you as well Mr. Yuki." The senator told him coldly, quickly rebuilding his cold mask.

Jaden returned home, not bothering to check on his pupils, he knew they were either asleep or undergoing activities he really didn't want to walk in on. Either way, his presence would only be a nuisance to them

As he leaned out on the railing of the balcony of his and Alexis's room, he couldn't help but let his mind wander to his two students, since they had shown up, they had turned everything upside down ad inside out. Now dark powers were on the rise again, and Jaden suspected that the shadow monster that Kalin summoned had something to do with it.

Then there was the force on their side. It was born of a crimson power that Jaden had felt twice now. Joey's pupil had used it, but had fallen none the less. Then Jaden had felt it again today, when Akiza had finished Ice Lord. They were both warriors against the shadows and Jaden would bet anything that Yusei was a third.

Not all was well in the world, much needed to be fixed and maybe, just maybe, Yusei and Akiza would be the ones to fix everything, to set the world straight after Zero Reverse. People sometimes thought he was stupid because he didn't ever pay attention in school, but he was anything but. He may not be book smart like his friend Bastion, but he trusted his instincts, and learned from his past. He knew something big was coming, but now it was time to see what.

Jaden walked back inside and began researching everything that had to do with shadow monsters and crimson gods.

 **Ok, long chapter done. Akiza kicks some serious ass again and more puzzle pieces fit together. I used google to find spell and trap cards that Akiza could use in her duel, the ones I went with were Black Rose Garden, poison rose, which may be a fake card, but blame google if it is, and rose curse. I know I changed the affect, but the name worked perfectly with the affect I wanted.**

 **Another point of clarification, Ice Lord/Dominic's partner is Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. While this character may be done for now, he will have a role later in the story.**

 **Jaden is slowly figuring things out, and who knows what will happen when Kalin and Yusei duel, and will Yusei show Kalin who he is, for old times' sake? That and other questions will probably be answered in the next chapter.**

 **I want as many reviews follows and like as you guys can give me, it is so much easier to write when I know there is tons of support, it makes me feel like I'm doing something.**

 **Happy Reading and happy summer- Centurion Africanus**


	16. Chapter 16- a duel of brothers

**I don't own Yugioh**

To say Kalin was nervous was an understatement. The name demon didn't do his next opponent justice.

He was a mystery, a complete unknown. In his first duel, he was more than content to just let his monsters, 3 of them, do the fighting for him. Unlike his partner who was incredibly skilled at fighting both humans and their partners on her own. Her partner was something else for sure, but with the amount of sprites the demon could summon, 5 if he counted correctly when he had first noticed the sprite following he had, he was in serious trouble.

Kalin had finally healed from the first round and had a day before Watcher was cleared as well, meaning he had a chance to see if the demon was a familiar face before their duel.

Kalin managed to corner him the next morning before their duel.

"Mr. Demon, I was wondering if you could lend me a hand?" Kalin asked him, ignoring the scoff that came from behind the intimidating grey mask.

"You see, I'm an amnesiac, I remember waking up in a cell, with my partner, and three names, nothing else. I was wondering if you know who I was?" Kalin asked

The demon gave no visible response, his mask covering most of his facial features, his eyes shone through the visible, they were a sharp dark blue, almost indigo.

"The names, they were Jack Atlas, Crow Hogan, and Yusei." the demon said, confirming Kalin's theory that the masked man did indeed know who he was.

"Yeah, Yusei Fudo." Kalin said, correcting him on the last name. "So will you help me?" Kalin was almost certain he would, but the masked man shook his head.

"You are better off without those three, murders, liars and thieves, each in their own respect. You held them in line, now they openly wreck havoc wherever they go. Judgement is coming for those three, and you are innocent, but stand in my way, and I will be forced to move you." and with that, the demon walked away, although he was unable to ignore Kalin's last words to him.

"I thought you were one of them, but clearly you can't look past heritage and at a real person if you blame Yusei for Zero Reverse, I thought you might be a good guy, but I guess not, you're just a vengeful maniac."

"Who said I was after Yusei, not the real villain behind Zero Reverse?" the Demon called to Kalin over his shoulder, leaving Kalin with much on his mind when he lined up on his runner, was this demon Yusei.

 **Line break**

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have our last match in our semifinals. First, the scourge of all those who defeat him, the master of shadow games, Executioners Bane!" Kalin hit the throttle, shooting out of the tunnel and getting his wheels on the ground. His wasn't the most well received duelist, but he didn't care, he was here for himself.

"And his opponent, the man with an army, the champion of light and directly from the stars, the Stardust Demon!" Both Kalin and Yusei scoffed at that description, what part of demon did the over excited easily scared announcer not understand.

"Duelists ready, 3...2...1...DUEL!"

Yusei hit his throttle, letting his custom built engine roar to life and shoot him ahead of Kalin. He let his magic flow, sending a blast of wind straight at Kalin, knocking him off his balance, giving him time to send his magic into two of his sprite friends. Junk Warrior and Nitro warrior formed and were standing, waiting on the track for Kalin to ride right into them.

By the time Kalin righted his shaking runner, he saw that two large muscular duel monsters were standing right in his path. He jerked hard on his runner, sending him away from Nitro warrior, who he knew would deal more damage, and he used his magic like a battering ram and slammed into Junk Warrior, beating him in a single move, so far so good, but it took a serious hit to his magic reserves.

Yusei knew his two monsters couldn't beat Kalin, especially if he brought out whatever shadow behemoth he could summon through Watcher. But if he could keep Watcher off the field, maybe that would prevent the shadow thing from ever entering the fray. Yusei doubled his efforts, sending power into junk archer to keep Kalin occupied while he worked on a plan of his own.

Kalin was driving like a madman, not being able to keep still or use his magic without serious risk of taking a major hit from either junk archer or nitro warrior.

Yusei had also begun his assault, targeting the magic amplifiers and dampeners that were on Kalin's runner. Each of his strikes was precise and powerful, making Kalin more and more certain that he would lose his only defense against a small army.

Kalin was becoming desperate and the voice was back, the one egging him to use his inner darkness, the power that rested within him. But Kalin was fighting as hard as he could to keep that power inside him. He had listened to the voice before, and Greiger may never recover fully because of that.

This demon had information on his past, that much was sure, and Kalin couldn't get that information from him if he was comatose or dead.

He calmed himself, he needed to reach out to his partner, he wasn't alone, he needed to get Watcher into the fight, exactly what he would bet the demon was trying to keep him from doing.

He needed a diversion, time to learn from his predecessors. Kalin cloaked his entire runner in dark energy, then spun around and charged the other direction, intent on ramming the demon.

Yusei fell for the ploy, and moved to swerve out of the way, shooting a magic blast as he went. Exactly what Kalin wanted.

Kalin ducked into his runner and let the magic fly over him, and straight into Watcher. Watcher took the large energy blast and let loose her true draconic form, quickly blasting Nitro Warrior.

'Well, I guess I can power people's partners, that answers that question.' Yusei thought to himself as he watched how soundly he was played.

"Would you look at that! Executioner's Bane used the Stardust Demon's own power against him and got his partner fully charged without using a drop of his own power, what a move!" the announcer was raving about the move, but Yusei rolled his eyes.

'Just like Kalin, using his opponents against themselves' Yusei thought to himself as the fully formed dragon bore down on Junk Archer and ripped him apart, reverting him back to sprite from.

"Just like old times, Kalin, but let's see how you handle this." Yusei called as he drove up along side Kalin and charged his last two sprites.

Junk Destroyer and Road warrior took their full form, and they took on the fully formed hundred eyes dragon. Yusei catapulted Road Warrior into the air the drag Watcher down, then Junk Destroyer took over, grabbing Watcher's tail and smashing the poor dragon into the ground.

Yusei jumped right back into his assault on Kalin, letting loose sharp precise wind scythes, each one taking a chip off Kalin's runner. Kalin tried to fight back, but his dark magic was simply weaker than Yusei's silver wind strikes.

Yusei knew he was overpowering Kalin, just like his two monsters were overwhelming Watcher. Junk Destroyer and Road warrior worked together with a practiced ease, one that gave Watcher no chance to counter one of them before the next one was on her.

"Two more monsters join the brawl and turn the duel back in the Stardust Demon's favor." the announcer said as Yusei landed another blow on Kalin's runner. The runner was well built, maybe by Kalin himself, but it couldn't take much more abuse before it was torn apart.

Kalin felt the darkness creeping back into his mind, stronger with each blow he took. Pain was making the darkness stronger, letting it infect his mind.

"Demon, end this before I lose control, then you give me some answers." Kalin yelled back to Yusei who was hot on his heels, who nodded in understanding, he would help his brother.

Yusei began to project his wind magic into one of the most dangerous techniques he knew, the wind vacuum.

Yusei let his magic surround Kalin's runner, forming an air tight bubble. Yusei could feel the inner darkness inside Kalin, a darkness that would completely overpower his own magic if it was released. The amount of pain Kalin must feel holding it all in must have been tremendous.

Once Yusei finished the seal, he put all the power he wouldn't need for the technique into Junk Destroyer and Road Warrior, who were winning a grappling match against Watcher, keeping the dragon from interfering with Yusei.

Once Yusei completed the seal, he began draining the oxygen from within the bubble, Kalin had almost lost control at this point, dark tendrils of energy lashing out from him against Yusei's seal, but it was pointless, Yusei had trapped the darkness, and within a minute, Kalin collapsed on his runner, unconscious from lack of air.

"And the Stardust Demon wins, he'll go on to face the Black Rose Witch in the finals, which will take place tomorrow!" the announcer said, his voice full of life saying what Goodwin told him too.

 **Line break**

Jaden was impressed with how his pupil calmly handled the battle, not giving the shadow giant a chance to enter the battle, and it was clear he was the more powerful duelist for now, but it was also clear to those who knew what they were looking for that Kalin was holding in an overwhelming amount of power that he couldn't control, and that was the only reason Yusei won.

When Jaden heard Goodwin's announcement, he was royally pissed off. Both of his students had used the majority of their magic and were more likely to get unnecessarily hurt if they fought again so soon. Yusei didn't have any physical wound, he was able to walk out of the arena on his own weight, probably only had a few bruises, but he was exhausted, that much was obvious.

Akiza had never gotten any actual healer to look at her wounds, which were actually quite numerous, and she was still recovering her magic. Nettle and Star were fine, but their partners needed time to rest, preferably a week.

"Goodwin, I don't know what you're playing at, but both my students need rest. They will not be fighting tomorrow, they will need a week, maybe longer to fully recover. You not letting me down to see them isn't helping either. They are my students and it is my responsibility to help them and provide aid." Jaden seethed at the director, feeling the power of the supreme king fill him. He had no doubt he was wearing the heterochromatic eyes that Yubel possessed.

"They both had the energy to leave by themselves, they will be fine to fight tomorrow, and if one of them doesn't show up, the match will be considered forfeit." Goodwin said as if he was explaining it to a child.

"And if both do not show up to fight?" Jaden asked

"Jack will be declared the winner, as they were both unable to duel as scheduled." Goodwin said, pissing Jaden off, but he didn't stop there. "They are also being kept separate so that no pre duel fights can occur, Lazar is attending to the matter personally. If either one makes a move against him, they will be disqualified." Goodwin said matter-o-factly, pissing Jaden off even further.

"These actions will not be forgotten Goodwin, I may have been a tentative ally of yours, but now I see you for who you really are, a manipulative bastard, working to destroy the city from within are targeting my students because you know they have the power to stop you, but you are poking a sleeping dragon director, I can only hope that dragon keeps you alive long enough for you to pay for your crimes." Jaden told the director and headed down to see his students. Goodwin be damned he would help them.

He visited Akiza first, and used his magic to fully heal her wounds. She was still exhausted, not fully recovering her magic yet, but she was ready to go the next day. She even said she and Yusei had a plan, how Jaden didn't know, but he went with it.

Yusei was it better shape than Akiza. He may have had less magic, but he only had a few bruises for Jaden to heal. He agreed that he and Akiza had a plan, but wouldn't tell what, he just told Jaden to find somewhere besides the directors viewing box for him and Mr. Wheeler to watch the match the next day.

 **Line break**

Goodwin was a patient man. He had waited for 19 years since the Zero Reverse for his plans to be set into motion, plans that would make him king of not only this world, but the spirit and nether worlds as well.

The only ones who stood a chance against him were both the signers and dark signers. He was holding this tournament to find those who would oppose him and, get into their heads so to say.

The discovery that both of the twins he was looking into were signers was bad, he couldn't get to them, their minds shared a link that he couldn't break, so he looked elsewhere. Jack was already wrapped around his little finger and didn't need mind control to be used, he was probably the stupidest man Goodwin had ever met.

So that left Akiza and Yusei, his one mistake, the one that could lead to his downfall. Goodwin considered himself to be the cleverest man around, one capable of planning anything and everything to happen exactly as he wanted.

But he made a miscalculation. He meant to have them both in Satellite, a feat he succeeded in, but he wanted them to be broken in spirit, incapable of standing up to him.

But something had happened. They had stumbled upon each, maybe were led to each other, and they built each other to new heights. Goodwin could have never foreseen how strong they would become, or he would never have risked them anywhere near each other.

He knew his best bet was to separate them, divide and conquer, an age old tactic. He knew he couldn't overpower Akiza's mind, he had tried before and had almost been overcome himself. That left Yusei, poor innocent Yusei, who was paying for his crimes. The Zero Reverse had been of his design and was his most successful plan yet. It gave him a chance to grab great amounts of power, while going unsuspected himself. False reports were given to the public and the real one, the one that included himself and his brother was safely locked away in his secret office.

Jaden Yuki, a powerful duelist and a well loved figure basically declaring open war on him was not at all what Goodwin wanted, but not something he couldn't handle. While Jaden was unable to be controlled, something he found most annoying, he could be beaten. All Goodwin would need to do was plan, for nothing could defeat a well laid plan.

But first things first, he needed to tear Yusei and Akiza apart. It was time he paid Mr. Fudo a visit, to make the duel the following day more, interesting…

 **Line break**

Dominic slowly sat up. Where was he. He was in a hospital. Why was he in a hospital? Last he remembered, he went to confront Goodwin about his brother and Akiza. His entire mind was blank beyond that.

He could see Whiteout in a bed across the room from him, nurses bustling around, trying to get him to settle down, but he had seen what was on TV. It was a review of a duelist's duels. His.

He watched as he taunted and injured a little kid severely, maybe scarring him for life and then tried to kill Akiza, who was like a little sister to him. He was disgusted with himself, why would he do those things, unless what Akiza told him all those years ago was true and Goodwin was a psychic, one who could control minds. It had happened to his brother and now it happened to him.

He had to stop himself from vomiting. He was going to get that bastard, he would make him pay for tricking him into ostracizing Akiza and for the death of his brother as well as getting into his head. But now he needed rest, and a way to shield his mind from Goodwin, lest he be controlled again.

 _Help lies for you in the shadows, look within yourself for the answer_

A dark and deep voice filled his mind, packing ,more power than he had ever felt at once time. He sat in lotus position and began searching within himself, looking for what would grant him peace of mind, for his brother.

 **Happy June 24th everybody. This is a special day to me for personal reasons(not birthday, that is in the colder months), so I hope everyone had a great day.**

 **I know this is a less intense fight, but it needed to happen to show Kalin's relationship with the darkness inside him. I also had to put the Dominic part, he isn't evil, I want to emphasize that, nor does he think Akiza as anything more than a sibling, Yusei is the only person for Akiza. End of story.**

 **I welcome and encourage all favs follows and reviews, they mean more than you could imagine, especially for me.**

 **Happy Reading- Centurion Africanus**


	17. Chapter 17- Mind Bending

**I don't own Yugioh**

Goodwin paused at the door of the room he had forced Mr. Fudo into. He knew he would undoubtedly be attacked the second he opened the door, he knew the deep rooted hatred the boy felt for him, but he was going to use that hatred to his advantage.

Goodwin moved with haste, swinging open the door and latching his mind onto the unsuspecting boy's. He felt the boy try and resist him, and the crimson power that defended him. Goodwin knew now how powerful the boy was. If he realized his true potential, there would be no stopping him, especially with his psychic lover girl.

Goodwin examined the power within the boy, who had collapsed from the strain on his mind. The boy had yet to accept the ancient dragon, and that meant he was vulnerable. He may someday gain the true power the dragon held, but he had refused the dragon, meaning Goodwin could run rampant in his mind.

Goodwin attacked what powers the crimson dragon had granted the boy, sealing the dragon from influencing the boy. Once the dragon was gone, Goodwin built his own set of orders into the boy's mind. It took work, and Goodwin closing all of the boy's instincts.

All that was left was a shell of a human with one simple function.

Kill the Black Rose Witch.

 **Line Break**

Akiza was worried. Yusei had never been led back to the competitors waiting room. The only news she received from the little clown was that he was being taken to another location so no fighting could begin before it was time.

Akiza was still hurt from her duel against Dominic and she was certain Yusei was exhausted, but when she tried to intimidate the little clown man, he waved her off and said it didn't matter, they had a schedule to keep.

As she lie on her bed that night, missing Yusei's presence for the hundredth time that night. She knew everything should be fine, but something felt off. She didn't know how she knew, but Yusei was in danger, and there was nothing she could do. She felt a weak pull at her mind, but it quickly died, leaving Akiza sitting bolt upright in her bed.

Yusei had been reaching out to her, trying to reach her with his mind, but he had been cut off. Akiza took a deep breathe and did something Sayer had warned her against all those years ago. She dove into her own mind to search for the source of her psychic powers.

For most psychic's, this was a dangerous task, if they stumbled across their psychic core and mishandled it, they would destroy their own minds. When properly handled through, a psychic could enhance their power tenfold.

When she had told Yusei about this practice after the crimson dragon first visited them, he encouraged her to try and find her power, and maybe a way to get rid of the dragon. But she had never been successful.

But tonight would be different. In her heart, she knew Yusei depended on her finding her core tonight, so find it she would. She kept searching, she felt Nettle right along side her, searching for her core.

Akiza was searching well into the night, and it was only when she realized she was getting nowhere herself did the answer find her. If she wanted to find the dragon, and the power it brought with it, she would first need to invite the dragon in, and that was something she refused to do. So Akiza fell into an uneasy sleep, unaware the trap that had been laid for her and her lover.

 **Line break**

The next morning came quickly, and before long Akiza was roused from her slumber by an impatient Nettle, who was scowling at the thought of fighting her mate.

"You have the same sinking feeling do huh?" Akiza asked her partner, who nodded stiffly.

After a quick breakfast, Akiza was led up to the the holding chamber on her duel runner. While she didn't have the same level of control as Yusei did on his, Akiza was a fast learner who was more than prepared to face her lover on the machine.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, what a tournament it has been. And now for our finalists, first, the wind master who goes faster, the master of all spirits, the Stardust Demon and his partner Star!" Akiza heard Yusei rev his engine from across the arena, his runner seemed to shoot across the field in front of her as Yusei took off.

Akiza frowned, it wasn't like Yusei to show off, something wasn't right.

" **You are correct, your bonded is in need of help, help only I can provide."** A deep voice rang through Akiza's mind, causing her to flinch, that damned dragon spirit was back.

"Get the hell out of my head, and if you did anything to Yusei, I will end you." Akiza growled from behind her mask.

" **I did nothing, there was nothing I could do, that is why you both are in this mess."** the crimson dragon responded, his deep voice filling Akiza's mind.

"What mess, who caused this?" Akiza tried to question the dragon, but it brushed her aside.

" **Go out and see, just know I am your only option to save him."** the dragon said, leaving Akiza's mind, but she could still feel it's presence lingering in the arena, watching, waiting.

"Well Nettle, let's see what mess we got ourselves into this time." Akiza said and prepared to enter the arena.

"And his opponent, the master of nature, the flower with power, the Black Rose Witch!" Akiza shot of the tunnel while Nettle made her way to the platform where Star was waiting. After a brief conversation with her mate, Nettle sent Akiza a panicked message.

'Goodwin did something to Yusei, he messed with his mind, he won't even respond to Star, its like his mind is gone." Nettle warned Akiza, who eyed her masked lover across from her on the starting line.

"Are you ready for our rematch Yusei?" she asked carefully, testing the water

"Must...Destroy...Witch…" his voice was hoarse, like he had been screaming all night, but the message stuck with Akiza, somehow, Goodwin had overpowered Yusei's immunity to psychic attacks, and took control, destroying who he was underneath, leaving only this shell behind.

" **I can restore him, but you must accept my mark."** the dragon spoke in her mind

"Like hell I trust you, I'll save him myself, just watch stupid dragon." Akiza growled at the spirit before turning back to her Yusei

"Don't worry, I'll get you out of your own head, dragon be damned." she told him, before turning back to the track and revving her engine, time to put her money where her mouth is.

"3...2...1...DUEL!" Akiza and Yusei shot off the opening mark and quickly hit the first corner. Akiza struck first, using her magic to narrow the lane so Yusei could hear her talking to him.

"Get ahold of yourself Yusei, this is Goodwin controlling you!" she called over to him, but it looked like he couldn't hear her, he just kept muttering nonsense, occasionally expressing the desire to kill her in some graphic fashion. Goodwin didn't cut any corners Akiza thought to herself.

Yusei started his assault by sending his magic into Star, who reluctantly took to the air behind him. Akiza's eyes met briefly met with Star, before powering up Nettle to join her mate in the sky.

'I need a plan Nettle, try and plan something with Star, I'm sure he wants Yusei back as much as us, and we are not going to that damned crimson dragon for help' Akiza sent her thought to Nettle, who started planning with Star, under the guise they were trying to attack each other, but it was obvious their hearts weren't in it.

Akiza refocused on Yusei, slinging a few blasts of black petals at him, but he deflected them with carefully, using little to no magic of his own, then returning fire with several well placed slices of air.

Akiza dodged the slices, but they were never aimed for her, the well shot slices impacted the wall and Yusei shot out of the little lane that Akiza had made and sped off, leaving Akiza a sitting duck in her own trap.

Akiza growled in frustration, Yusei may not be himself, but he was just as clever as ever. Akiza pulled down her walls to catch up with Yusei, but was met with all five of him machine monsters, baring down on her.

Akiza reacted quickly and put a wall between her and the incoming spirits, but it was quickly smashed by Junk Destroyer. Unlike Star, these spirits didn't share a bond with Yusei, they blindly followed Yusei's directions. Akiza refocused and sent a mental signal to Nettle, setting a plan in place.

Akiza poured her magic into her runner, sending a maelstrom of spiked vines out, making her a moving version of her Rose Tentacles. She lashed out at Junk Warrior and Junk Destroyer, grabbing them and throwing them at Yusei, who artfully maneuvered out of the way before sending another wave of wind blades at her.

Akiza smirked and Nettle executed her part of the plan, swerving away from Star long enough to knock Junk Archer into the line of fire, reverting him back into his sprite form, defeated.

"And the first of six spirits falls to the Black Rose Witch, but can she hold out against the Stardust Demon's onslaught!" the announcer bellowed as Akiza swerved away from a chunk of rubble thrown at her by Road Warrior.

Akiza grit her teeth and revved her engine. She was going to free Yusei, she wouldn't let Goodwin win. How Goodwin got Yusei though confused her, she thought he was immune to psychic abilities, that's what that that red fucktard dragon had said, wasn't it?

 **He resisted me, making his powers from me unstable, something your enemy exploited. If you want to free him, you must accept me yourself and use your power to lift the psychic influence from his mind.**

And there was the damn dragon again.

"Like hell I'm accepting you asshat, I'm never accepting your help." Akiza growled, letting the dragon know what she felt.

 **Then you are doomed to fail, maybe you shall win this battle, but it will come at a heavy price. Either your beloved and you shall fall this day if you don't accept my help.**

Akiza knew her situation was not the best, but she had faced hundreds of duelists before and defeated them with her own strength.

"Just watch me, I don't need you dragon." she told it and shot forward, lashing out directly at Yusei, forcing him to swerve, only for the ground beneath him to explode in a burst of flower petals.

Yusei was airborne, about to crash, but Junk Destroyer caught him and Yusei revved his engine and ran over his own monster, causing Junk Destroyer to shrink back down.

Akiza gave a smirk and continued her assault. Sending blasts of high speed sharpened leaves and thorny vines to try and hit him, but Yusei expertly maneuvered his way around the attacks, using his wind redirect those he couldn't dodge.

Akiza knew she had to pull something fast. In the sky above, Nettle and Star were flying around, mock battling in amusement, yet both keeping an eye on the battle below. Akiza knew Nettle desperately wanted to help her, and Star would let her, but this was something Akiza had to do herself, to make up for her failure in the past.

Akiza struck again, this time aiming in front of Yusei, where Junk Warrior was, he got obliterated in a blast of leaves. Three down, two to go, then Yusei himself.

"This ends now." Yusei growled out in a deep growl, and he started glowing silver, draining Nitro Warrior and Road Warrior of the power he had put into them to awaken their superior form, something that no one had ever seen before.

"And the Stardust Demon does the impossible again, this time reenergizing himself by draining his remaining non partner duel monsters, this man is unstoppable!" the announcer seemed to be bipolar, torn between shouting in excitement and hiding behind his podium.

Yusei spun his runner and jammed the gear into reverse. When Akiza saw his eyes, she held in a gasp, they were a blank white, almost identical to what Dominic had. Akiza growled and started throwing large blasts of leaves one after the other, but each was masterfully deflected by Yusei, and adding more power would only tire Akiza out faster. While her strikes did more damage, Yusei had always had the better defense and endurance, as well as seemingly endless magic to match her own power.

Yusei finally let loose and took the offense, quickly sending calculated wind knives, hacking her vine defenses to pieces, as well as landing multiple hits on her runner, shaking the magic converters. He was going for the kill.

Akiza tried to play defense against Yusei's onslaught, but she had always been an offensive dueler while Yusei played defense, striking only when his opponent had over extended and left themselves wide open.

Yusei finally got a clean shot through and sliced her magic converters off. Akiza watched as the crashed against the track, breaking in multiple places. If she was going to save Yusei she had to act quickly.

" **You must accept my aid."** the dragon was getting repetitive, and slightly angry, but Akiza ignored him, pouring more magic into her defenses. At this point, Akiza knew she wouldn't beat Yusei, but saving him was another matter. The dragon called her the greatest psychic in history, time to prove it right, without relying on the stupid demiurge dragon.

Akiza traveled into her own mind, not focusing on the dragon like she had the night before, but instead on her connection with Yusei, the way their magic worked together in perfect harmony.

It was there she found it. A large seal, imprinted with the image of the dragon that had been bugging her and Yusei.

"You have reached the seal, place your hand on it and accept my power, and it will dissolve." the dragon said to her, but Akiza smirked at the hint of panic in the dragon's voice.

"I thought you knew me better than that, I'm the Black Rose Witch, destroying stuff is my forte." she quipped and struck the seal with everything she had left. The seal shattered.

Outside her mind, a red aura exploded around her, further shielding her from Yusei's relentless assault. The announcer was going crazy, but no one listened to him,

Elsewhere, a pair of twins felt the marks on their arms light up, a fourth awakening. A freshly recovered Leo held his comatous sister's hand and sent his strength to the source.

Akiza stared in awe at what lay behind the seal she had broken. It was a veritable sea of crimson power, all awaiting her command. Her own tremendous power was just a drop in the ocean of magic that was before her.

And that wasn't all. When she reached her senses out, she felt others occupying the same pool of might. She felt the young green haired boy from earlier in the tournament, and a girl who looked extremely similar to him, both sending her more magic than she thought anyone their age could.

She could sense a void, like the dragon had yet to choose a person to fill the position. She felt a fourth person, but they were shielded, exuding a cold aura of hate and distrust.

And she felt Yusei, the real Yusei, sealed on two sides, the dragon's seal trapping him on one side and Goodwin's magic on the other.

She collected all the magic that she could and formed it into a single strike, targeting her psychic power at the barrier Goodwin had put over Yusei, striking through the backdoor the Crimson bastard had put in their heads.

While her strike didn't destroy the Dragon's seal, it smashed through Goodwin's magic, hopefully giving the bastard a headache in the process. But the result was clear, Yusei had control back, Goodwin's influence was banished from his mind.

Back on the track, Yusei's eyes had returned to their normal blue and he instantly stopped his assault on Akiza. Star sent a tentative message to his mind, and his positive response caused him to roar in joy.

Akiza was exhausted, she had used every last bit of strength to break Goodwin's control, and even if it was overkill, she didn't want a hint of that slimy bastard in her head. Akiza let her runner roll to a stop, and she signaled her surrender.

The stadium went nuts, the announcer started proclaiming the 'Stardust Demon' the winner of the cup, but Akiza couldn't care less, her attention was on her lover who had just pulled up next to her.

"Thank you Akiza, whatever Goodwin did to me completely took my body from me, it was like I was just thrown out of control, leaving him to play around with whatever he wanted." Yusei said softly climbing off his duel runner, Akiza just grinned under her mask, hopping off her slightly destroyed runner.

"You would have done the same for me, we both know that much." she said and she shifted both her mask and Yusei's slightly so she could kiss him, forgetting the entire crowd of people watching. Then and there, Yusei was the only one who mattered.

 **Wahoo, I'm alive and no longer stuck on this chapter. I'm probably not going to have these two fight again because it took so damn long and painful to write these two fighting. Next chapter is the long awaited (I hope) Yusei vs Jack, and a few additional revelations I plan on working in, including some better villains and maybe a chapter on what is happening to the twins.**

 **Here's to more posts in the near future.**

 **Happy reading -Centurion Africanus**


	18. Chapter 18-The Rising Star

**I don't own Yugioh**

Jack Atlas always knew somewhere deep down that betraying his best friend, a man who would have laid down his life for him, would one day catch up to him and bite him in the ass, he just never thought how quickly that day would come.

But here he was, watching Yusei win the Fortune cup and the opportunity for his vengeance. Inferno gave him some moral support, but Jack knew he was in for the fight of his life.

"We have our winner, tomorrow, the Stardust Demon will face off against Jack Atlas." Goodwin was announcing over the loudspeaker. Jack knew Goodwin played dirty, he knew it better than anyone, but this was a new low, even for him, time to throw his weight around.

"Shut it Goodwin, listen here Demon." Jack started as he took the microphone. If he was going to face Yusei, he wanted to do so while they were both at 100%, he would prove once and for all he was the best, or go out in a blaze of glory, he wasn't going to accept anything less.

"We'll have our fight in a week, not a day sooner nor a day later, and I'll show the world the power of a true champion." Jack said and left Goodwin's observatory, dropping the microphone on his way out.

"Well then, people of New Domino city, the match will take place in a week, goodnight to everyone!" Goodwin said in a false cheery tone before he stormed off.

"That was good of you. Not many people would risk their title for a fair fight." Jaden Yuki said to Jack, Jack just scowled.

"If Yusei didn't get a fair fight now, he'd just come after me again later, so I might as well finish this now so we can both move on with our lives." Jack said as he watched both Yusei and the Witch roll their runners back into the tunnels they came from, not receiving any medical attention.

"So you do know him then." Jaden said and Jack rolled his eyes.

"Of course I know him, and I hate him, ask him what his last name is, that will make you think twice about him." Jack scoffed and stalked off, Inferno by his side.

Jaden was a good and fair man, Jack knew that much, and while he did hate the fact the first part of his life was marred by poverty, he didn't hate Yusei for it. Angry for a while sure, but he didn't hate him. Goodwin had him cornered and forced him into action against Yusei, and now Yusei was back, looking for revenge. Jack was stuck between a rock and a hard place, with no options.

Jack gave a soft sighed, might as well visit his little sister while he still had the chance, because depending on what happened in a week, Goodwin may never let him see her again.

Leo looked at his arm and compared the heart shaped mark to the foot mark on his comatose sister's arm.

Leo had known his sister was traversing the spirit world, looking for her partner for years now, but he couldn't do anything about it, now that he had a sign of the Crimson Dragon like she did though, he could send her all the support he could.

Leo wondered about the other though. He had felt the Black Rose Witch through his mark, and was hesitant to send her power during her fight, but when he felt his sister support her, he gave his support.

Now he felt three other marks active, his sisters the witches and one other, along with a fourth that was still shielded. All Leo could do now was wait, for what he wasn't sure, but he knew his mark would tell him what to do next, like it led his sister, it would lead him.

What Leo didn't see as he watched his sister's still form was Luna shaking her head sadly behind Leo in spirit form, trying to warn him.

When Yusei and Akiza got back to their designated rooms, they collapsed from exhaustion on one of the beds and just lay there until Jaden came storming in, muttering curses at Goodwin.

"Alright you two, what happened out there, you were fighting completely out of character there Yusei." Jaden asked as he started healing his two students.

"Goodwin, he came to my room yesterday and got into my head." Yusei said as Jaden treated the vine slashes Akiza had landed on his back.

"You mean Goodwin is a psychic?" Jaden asked and Akiza nodded

"Not just any psychic either, he can get into people's minds and twist things, making them his puppets, which he did to Yusei, I had to shatter all of his magic in Yusei's head to get Yusei free, but by then I was completely out of magic, so I just surrendered." Akiza said as Nettle wrapped a bandage around her bleeding arm.

"Well, that explains how Goodwin had been getting away with most of the crap he pulls." Jaden comment offhandedly, finishing with Yusei and moving onto healing Akiza.

"Yeah, he's been framing people for years." Akiza muttered, giving a look to Yusei that Jaden picked up on immediately.

"You want to share with the class or do I have to guess what you two know." Jaden asked, finishing with Akiza. Both his students were now healed, but still exhausted.

"Tell him, we were planning on releasing it to the public at the end of the tournament anyway, so might as well get him to help." Yusei said. Akiza reached into the bag she had brought with her and handed Jaden a file labeled top secret.

Jaden carefully opened the file and went through a file he had been searching for for years.

Here was proof of everything he had theorized. Hakase's innocence, the faults in the reactor system, all of it. But there was more. Goodwin was listed on the project, not just Rex, but another Goodwin Jaden hadn't even known existed.

"Well, this will make some people I know feel a lot better." Jaden said offhandedly, flipping through the sheets, glancing at the praise Hakase received.

"Like who?" Yusei asked, Akiza cuddling into his chest.

"Hakase's wife for one, she'll be thrilled her husband wasn't a crazed murderer." Jaden said, not glancing up from the papers, if he had, he would have seen shell shocked looks on both of his student's faces.

"Also, this aside, are you psychic Akiza?" Jaden asked, carefully handing the file back to her.

"Yes." she said as she tucked the file back into her bag, hiding it behind some other papers in the bag.

"Remind me to introduce you to one of my friends, he's got a touch of psychic himself, he could help you control it better.' Jaden said before turning to Yusei.

"Jack mentioned you by name, how do you two know each other?" Jaden asked, causing Yusei to tell about how Jack had once been his best friend before he stabbed him in the back and kidnapped his partner, as well as steal his runner.

"Well, that would explain that, but why would he just turn on you like that?" Jaden asked, raising an eyebrow. He knew why at this point, the clues were easy to put together once he had them all, but he wanted to see how much Yusei trusted him.

"It wasn't something that should have gotten as big a reaction as it did, let's just say that." Yusei answered, pulling Akiza closer to him.

"Well, I got to go talk to Joey, he'll want to know this stuff, I'll be back in a few days to do mentoring and that stuff, get all the touchy feely stuff out of the way while I'm not around" Jaden told the two before he left, leaving the two lovebirds to take his advice.

Dominic knew he had to get out of the stupid hospital bed with Whiteout before Goodwin came looking for him. He had to use the fact that bastard didn't know he had broken out of his control to his advantage.

Dominic quietly snuck away, changing out of the stupid hospital gown, and slipping out one of the windows. He had to get to the Satellite, there he would find the others. He knew at least one of the others who would be there, but it wasn't the Bane he was worried about. He was warned he would have to topple the spider, so that was what he would do.

He wasn't very big on following, but Wiraqocha Rasca was a harsh teacher, so he would follow, for now. The Ice Lord had a new target now, and the power to bring him down.

When the day of the duel came, fans of all ages and walks of life were crowding into the arena, and when all the seats were full, they crowded the streets around the stadium, watching on big screens that surrounded the outside.

The four councilmen sat quietly on the viewing deck, each lost in thought as the minutes to the duel ticked down. Jaden and Goodwin in particular looked apprehensive of the coming duel.

Under the stadium, lined up on opposite sides, Yusei, wearing his full Stardust demon getup and Jack, in his bright white tracksuit and his equally bright wheel of fortune duel runner, prepared for the duel of their lives.

"You will beat him Yusei, this is the big next step, a victory here will shine major doubts on Goodwin and his system, his false truths, the first step to tearing him down." Akiza told Yusei softly as he got onto his runner, giving all the systems a last minute checkover.

"Jack is good Akiza, but he has no idea what i'm going to be throwing at him, unless he's hiding a game changing trick, this is in the bag." Yusei answered, pulling Akiza in for one last searing kiss before shooting off down the track on his runner as his name was announced. Akiza took a moment to recover before setting off deep into the stadium, preparing her part of the day's entertainment.

Yusei and Jack both rode out to the starting line while their partners were ready in the middle of the field, both male dragons glaring at each other, the bad blood obvious.

"Welcome fans, you've seen them both before, but now comes the ultimate showdown. The Stardust Demon vs the Blazing champion, Jack Atlas. Duelists start your engines, and DUEL!" and with those words from the announcer, Jack and Yusei tore away from the starting line, each pushing their engines hard.

"It's been a long time Jack, since you stole that runner from me." Yusei called over to his opponent.

"That it has, I always knew you would come, but you certainly didn't skip on the dramatics did you. I'll have to step my game up, don't want to be out shone do I?" Jack called back, letting his black hellfire surround him, sending him blasting ahead of Yusei, a similar technique to Hunter Pace.

"Hit me with Everything You've got Yusei!" Jack taunted and Yusei grinned from beneath his mask.

"With pleasure." And with that, Yusei let his magic flow into all five of his sprite friends. All five formed around him and set off straight at Jack, not needing any word from Yusei.

"Is that all Yusei, not even going to bring Star out to play, I think I feel a little insulted." Jack taunted to Yusei, a fireball forming in his hands. "If you don't use your dragon then too bad for you, I'm not holding back one bit!"

Jack launched the fireball at Blaze and Junk warrior went to intercept, but it was a ruse. The fireball exploded around the mech and junk warrior was down for the count, Jack was already sending a second fireball at Blaze, this one landed unhindered.

"Nice try Yusei, but prevention won't work here, now Rise Blaze, my very soul, the Red Dragon Archfiend!" Jack called and Blaze gave a roar of approval as he grew into his full form, hellfire surrounding him, it was a sight that would make the most powerful demon falter, but not Yusei.

"You know the drill guys, take Blaze out at the knees, junk archer give Jack hell!" Yusei called and his remaining four machine monsters leapt into action, Junk Archer keeping Jack distracted while Blaze struggled with three mecha giants.

Jack growled as he swerved around another shot from junk archer and responded with a fireball, but when junk archer spun around it, it detonated and blasted the archer into a wall and out of the fight.

Freed from his obstruction, Jack went to work helping Blaze, and one by one, the remaining three mech were destroyed.

With the monsters gone, Jack and Blaze looked for Yusei, but he had vanished, and Star was no longer waiting where he had been.

"What the…" Jack said, but was cut off when he was attacked from the side. Yusei had cloaked himself in wind and used it as a reflective barrier, similar to a light mage, and when Jack had driven by, Yusei attacked him from the side.

Yusei drove headlong into the side of Jack's runner, his entire runner glowing a light silver, protecting it from damage. Blaze made to intercept, but Star descended from above, where he had been hiding in the sunlight, smashing the black dragon into the center of the field.

As they collided, Yusei sent a flow of pure magic into Jack's runner, pure silver energy. Jack's entire runner gave a shudder, and the magic energy amps started to make popping sounds like popcorn, then starting to smoke.

"I know every inch of that runner Jack, and that means I know how to destroy it. I know that normal amps don't work for you, which meant you were still using the ones I made, the ones you stole, ones that had a failsafe built it." Yusei told Jack as the two duelists straightened out again. "I also know that the entire power system flows through the amps to make the runner faster, but with them broken, you're riding on a time bomb."

"Well played Yusei, I didn't think I would have to break this out yet, if at all, but you've given me no choice." Jack said, letting his fiery aura grow, even without the amps, he was generating more power than Akiza could.

As his power rose, Blaze pulled back from his tussle with Star and hovered over his duelist, his own power growing alongside Jack's. Yusei had to look away briefly as Jack's aura hit it's zenith and exploded outwards, turning the sky a blood red.

When Yusei looked back, he swore violently, Jack's black hellfire had turned a bright red, nearing orange in shade, his eyes had changed color to match his new flames. Blaze himself had evolved, his black scales had grown into a bright red armor to match the flames now surrounding Jack, on Blazes back, a second pair of wings was half grown, and one of his horns had grown red and larger, pointing forward instead of back.

"I haven't mastered this power yet Yusei, but half completed is more than enough to defeat you, see the power of my blazing soul brought forward, my power in all it's glory!"

"Well shit." was all Yusei said before he was forced to dodge wave after wave of fire, a deadly dance of power against strategy.

Yusei knew he wouldn't hold until Jack's runner gave out, Jack was overpowering his and Blaze was laying a smackdown on Star, he needed to turn things around, and he needed to do it now.

 **Tada, I'm making this a two chapter fight so hold onto your asses, because shit just went south, and it's going to get worse before it gets better. Next chapter might take a while because I'm not quite sure what Yusei's big come back move will be, but it will be awesome, I know that.**

 **Jack's power is not his full potential, he is missing something from the technique, he knows that, he just doesn't know what, but a full form will come later. Just picture red dragon archfiend and red nova dragon mashed together to get an image of what Blaze would look like.**

 **Hopefully the next chapter will be up next Sunday, but I could also get buried in school work in the coming week, so it's a coin toss. I promise once summer hits, around June 10th, all my stories will get more frequent posts, and I'm going to try and finish one of them.**

 **Reviews always welcome, favs and follows are appreciated. Recommendations that aren't horrible are considered.**

 **Happy Reading -Centurion Africanus**


	19. Chapter 19- the Falling Star

**I own nothing**

"You see this Yusei, this is my power, the perfect storm, an unstoppable storm!" Jack yelled at Yusei, his half transformed dragon roaring at the sky, waves of bright red flames rolled off both Blaze and his master, Yusei felt himself sweating forcefully.

' _This isn't something I saw coming, I need a new plan.'_ Yusei thought to himself as he shielded himself from wave after wave of fire, weathering the storm as best he could.

While Yusei was surviving the firestorm above, Azkia had donned her witch outfit and was prowling through the underground of the arena, heading to the tech room of the whole place.

Akiza found it soon enough and quickly incapacitated the guards and mechanics, most were too scared to move when they saw her. Akiza took a seat at the main computer terminal and set to work. While she was nowhere near as good as Yusei with computers, she had learned enough to set up what they had planned.

She checked one of the monitors in time to see Jack's transformation, and a sinking feeling hit her stomach. Akiza knew Yusei was clever, smart enough to trick even the most skilled and powerful opponents, but this was another level entirely of power, and Yusei would need to find a way to even the scales, even just a little, and even then, he'd need every bit of wit he could muster to beat Jack, neither of them was expecting him to have such a powerful ace up his sleeve, and frighteningly enough, it was still incomplete..

' _Yusei, you are the smartest man I have ever met, and if anyone can think a way out of this, it's you.'_ Akiza thought, watching as Yusei barely survived wave after wave of intense fire power that Jack was throwing at him.

' _Think Yusei, what else can I do.'_ Yusei thought to himself as he whipped around a corner, thinking of every way and style Jack had ever been beaten before. None of them applied now. Both Yusei and Star had various burn wounds by now, only barely managing to keep going.

"Squeak?" it was a high pitched engine whine that lit the inspiration for Yusei. Glancing down, he saw a tiny bright orange machine sprite that had been sleeping in his front pocket.

Yusei allowed a smirk to form on his face as he looked down at his way to beat Jack. A little monster called Junk Synchron.

 *****Flashback*****

"Jaden, why do some of these cards have different typing?" Akiza asked Jaden while they were going through his old cards, holding up a small stack of cards.

"Oh those, they were a new card type, released only a few years before the reactor exploded. They were called Tuner monsters and were the key to a new kind of summoning, never really took off through, people much preferred fusion monsters, but I grabbed up a bunch of them figuring they'd get a power boost eventually, but then Zero reverse happened and stopped card production, so they just sat here." Jaden explained, glancing through the stack quickly before passing it to Yusei.

"Hey, I know this little guy." Yusei said, holding up one of the tuners. Junk Synchron.

"Really, I've never seen you use him before?" Akiza said, looking over the card.

"Yeah, he's really small and sleeps a lot, so I just keep him in my pocket and when he wants to come out, I bring out his battle form, still on the smaller side though." Yusei said, gesturing to his breast pocket. "What was fusion summoning, I've never heard of anything like that before?" Yusei asked Jaden, who laughed, pulling a box from his pocket.

"This was my deck back in the day, if you look through it, it revolves around fusion, which was combining two monster together to create a more powerful one, people have tried since then to recreate it, but since no one before you, Yusei, could bring out the full potential of monsters, fusion has been forgotten, shame really, so many powerful cards and strategies lost." Jaden said wistfully, looking at his old deck with longing.

"Hm, I'll have to try it some time once the tournament is over…" Yusei trailed off, pocketing the junk synchron card in with the sprite itself and returned to sorting the cards.

 *****End Flashback*****

"Squeak!" Junk Synchron was gesturing to his own card, specifically the tuner line, then pointing up.

"You got it buddy!" Yusei agreed with the little sprite and tossed it up in the air, filling it with his power.

"Are you ready Jack, all or nothing, right here!" Yusei yelled as he barrelled through the next wave of fire, shielding the newly formed Junk Synchron, tearing his mask off at the same time, showing his face to the world.

"Do your thing buddy." Yusei called to Junk Synchron, who saluted affirmative and pulled the ripcord coming out of the lower half of its torso. Junk synchron zipped it's way up to where Star was barely holding on against Blaze.

Junk Synchron dissolved in front of Star and turned into three floating purple rings which Star flew into. The rings started to spin quickly and a bright light filled the arena. When it died down, Star had become plated in vivid orange armor plates. His claws had elongated and taken on a metallic sheen, the amor ran up his arms and legs, coming to a chestplate that surrounded the two gem like muscles on his chest. Star's head was adorned by a layer of metal as well, his spiked crown shining in the fire light.

"Go, Junkstar Dragon, give him hell!" Yusei called and revved his engine, devoting his focus to putting Jack on the defensive.

Both transformed dragons gave mighty roars and slammed into each other. When the dragons collided, a second bright light filled the arena, and Jack and Yusei, along with both their dragons, vanished from the corporeal world.

When the spots cleared from Yusei's eyes, he saw both he and Jack were driving on a path made of pure light over a black expanse of nothingness.

"What the hell did you do Yusei!" Jack called over to Yusei, the battle temporarily put on hold, even the dragons were confused.

"It wasn't me, intentionally at least" Yusei called back to Jack. "I see something coming though"

As the two continued on the light path, images started to form below them. Two great temples, one was bathed in a purple light with seven cloaked figures on the roof. The other was glowing blood red with six priests on the roof. All 13 people had glowing symbols on their right fore arms, symbols Jack and Yusei knew adorned their own arms..

The next image showed two ethereal serpent-like dragons, one a crimson red, the other a deep black, outlined in maroon, in a battle while the planet trembled beneath them.

The final image shocked Yusei and Jack to the bone, and it was a familiar sight. It was the Satellite, and it was burning, the purple fires burning in the pattern of a giant spider.

"What the fuck." Was all Jack had to say as the final image faded and they continued down the light path into darkness.

"I don't know what that was Jack, but it seems like the only way out of here is for there to be a winner, so let's end this." Yusei called, letting both his and Star's magic surge.

"I couldn't agree more Yusei, I just thought you'd know by now that you will never be able to out power me." Jack agreed, the air filling with his bright red fire.

"I do Jack, you're the one who should have learned not to fall for a simple trick." Yusei shot back and all four, both dragons and riders released their attacks.

While Jack had shot at Yusei and Blaze at Star, Yusei had shot lances of silver laced wind upwards, impacting Blaze, shredding his wings and sending him spiraling to the ground. Star hadn't charged an actual attack, instead folding his wings around Yusei surrounding the two of them in a cocoon of wind, tanking both hits.

"So we both lose our partners, big whoop Yusei, I can still beat you!" Jack called, but Yusei allowed a laugh to escape his lips.

"That's just it Jack, you just see power, the surface, when there's a whole world behind that power. You don't learn, and now it's time for you to see what why blind power doesn't solve everything."

"Starlit road!" Yusei called and shot most of what magic he had left into the air, and Star's roar came from within, and the full dragon, minus the fusion armor, burst from within.

"This ends now Jack, I have my home to save and a dictator to tear down."

"You won't be able to, Goodwin will hit you where it hurts, he always gets his way, you think I honestly wanted to become who I am now. Everything I do is because Goodwin forces me, I'm just a puppet." Jack spat.

"Then it's time to cut the strings."

Yusei and Star both formed what magic they had left into one single blast of shining destruction.

"STARDUST STREAM!" Yusei called and the magic blasted Jack, flipping his runner several times, sending it toppling off the road of light.

And just like that, the four were back in the arena. Blaze smashing into the ground, roaring in pain as he shifted back to his human form, Jack's runner smashing into a wall, throwing Jack himself onto the grass.

Yusei and Star zipped past their downed foes, Star giving a roar of victory, drawing the crowd into the excitement, Yusei had defeated Jack, the champion had fallen.

"Congratulations, to our new champion." Rex Goodwin's voice came over the loudspeaker, met with cheers of approval.

"Now then, Stardust Demon, also known as Yusei Fudo, you are under arrest for the crimes of your father, the Zero Reverse." and with that sector security flooded the stadium.

 **Boom, really short chapter, but a chapter nonetheless. In all honesty, I wasn't going to have Yusei pull out a transformation, but when every single review I got asked for one, I had to oblige, so if it seems a little thrown together, I apologize, but everyone still probably liked it better than Yusei stalling until the vision throws Jack off his game enough for Yusei to finish destroying the runner, thus winning. Up next, whenever I get the free time, probably after finals, storyline progression, slightly boring but potentially filled with subtle foreshadowing if I write it right.**

 **Happy Reading -Centurion Africanus**


	20. Chapter 20- Lady Luck

**I don't own Yugioh**

Yusei watched carefully as he was surrounded. Akiza had theorized that Goodwin might pull something like this. Yusei knew he wouldn't be able to fight his way out of this one, his fight with Jack had exhausted him too much, so he put his faith in Akiza to trigger the trap Goodwin had just stepped in.

"Greetings people of New Domino City, my name is Akiza Izinski, daughter of councilman Hideo who you all look up to, you also might know me by my title, the Black Rose Witch." Akiza's voice rang through the speaker system in the building, the screens that once showed the duel now were turning back on, with new images playing.

"If you would all turn your attention to the screens, you can see the videos of Councilman Izinski participating in and leading a duel sprite smuggling ring, trying to force powerful monsters to bond with evil people." Akiza said, letting a very incriminating video play over the screen, up in the booth, Councilman Izinski whitened in fear, when he tried to get up from his seat, he found himself strapped into the couch by reddish black magic from a smirking Joey Wheeler.

When the video finished playing, people were calling for blood, and Yusei was about to make it worse.

"There's one other council member who has performed a number of illegal actions, Rex Goodwin." and with that, Akiza blasted the file she had stolen all those years ago to every email box in the entire city, and also used a software Yusei had developed to blast it onto every screen in the city.

"The documents being shown to you is the real report of what happened during the Zero Reverse, notice how instead of being called a villain, Hakase Fudo is being praised for his actions as a hero, and on the employee list listed at second and third in command in the project are Rex Goodwin, and a mysterious Roman Goodwin. The only documentation for Roman is a dual birth certificate for twins born Rex and Roman Goodwin." Akiza didn't press further than that, she simply dropped the mic she had been using and hightailed it out of there, already hearing the shouts of guards on their way to her.

"People of New Domino, these two are villains, you must not listen to their false words and fake papers, I have always had the best interests for this city at heart." Goodwin went to continue, but was cut off by a pissed off Jaden Yuki.

"Is that so Rex, so when were you going to tell your oh so precious city that you are secretly a psychic duelist." Jaden challenged, throwing in his lot with Akiza and Yusei.

"And what about my student, Executioners Bane, he was put under the death penalty three times before I got him out of there, and the only crime tied to his marker was challenging you to a duel, do you see yourself as such a godly figure that anyone who challenges you must be put to death?" Joey questioned, still holding the fourth councilman to his seat.

The tides had turned on Goodwin now, he had been backed into a corner, two masked duelists would be easy to discredit, but two councilmen siding with them was another story, especially ones as universally loved as Joey Wheeler and Jaden Yuki. Goodwin knew he had options now, but all the pieces weren't in place for his move yet, both the light and the dark weren't ready yet, and he needed all 13 in one place for his plan, the question now was, would it be easier to work from the shadows, or as a failing political figure where all of his moves would be closely scrutinized. The answer was simple.

With a quick movement, Goodwin sent a blast of bright blue fire at Joey, who dropped the bindings on councilman Izinski in his surprise. Jaden managed to throw up a shield around Joey, saving him from being burned, but in the confusion, both Goodwin and Izinski escaped.

"It would appear Goodwin has decided to flee the situation, along with Izinski, starting now, all Sector Security will stand down. And on behalf of this city as a whole, I apologize to you Mr. Fudo, for spending so many years believing your father was the villain." Jaden then turned and left the viewing tower with Joey, letting the crowd explode in shouts of disbelief.

Yusei himself simply remounted his Duel runner, Star in human form hopping on the back, and he sped off into the city, to where he knew Akiza was waiting for him.

 **POV shift**

After he escaped, Goodwin had told the now ex councilman that he needed to go to the Satellite, and he sent his personal aid Lazar to go with him. Now both men had made their way to the old Ener-D reactor, where Goodwin had been promised the answers lie.

As the two men descended into the 'abandoned' reactor, they never noticed the spiders that tracked their every movement.

As they descended, they noticed a rainbow like glow coming from below. Both men recognized the unique light pattern, both had seen the new reactor and both could recognize an active one when they saw it.

"Goodwin, we're here, at your apparently active reactor, you promised to explain." Izinski shouted, his anger getting the better of him, his whole career, his entire life, had just been uprooted and destroyed by his bratty freak of a daughter. He should have just killed her when her power first awakened, but he had had hopes she could learn to control it and make a useful bodyguard for himself, as well as a piece to lock in a political marriage that could benefit him, that plan was out the window now, if he ever saw that bitch again, he promised himself only one of them would walk away.

"You said Goodwin, did my brother send me two new pawns, and did he gift me something greater?" a deep voice rumbled from the far side of the reactor, both Lazar spun to face the voice.

"Come closer, I wish to judge your worth." a dark cloaked man said, motioning for the two politicians to walk across the bridge over the reactor.

"I see, my brother truly is a grand manipulator, ever planning and plotting. I must thank him for sending me two more of my signers." the cloaked man said as the two men with their partners came to the center of the bridge over the reactor.

"Explain now." Izinski demanded and the cloaked figure gave a deep cold laugh.

"Patience ex councilman. Answers will come, but first you must bathe in the darkness and let the light be purged from you, allow yourselves to become a vessel for the ancient forces of the shadow realm."

"Well, you sound absolutely mad, I don't particularly feel like becoming a vessel to day so I believe I should be on my way." Lazar made to leave but the floor underneath the two politician and their partners gave out and they fell into the reactor below, where deep shadows were waiting for their hosts, waiting to consume the world with endless shadows.

 **POV shift**

When Jaden got home late that evening, he found Akiza and a shirtless heavily bandaged Yusei making out on his couch.

"Really guys, not really the sight I want to come home to." Jaden complained, letting his exhaustion show, it truly had been a long day.

"Then don't go looking for Star and Nettle." Akiza commented with a smirk as she separated from Yusei.

"Fantastic, exactly what I wanted to know right now." Jaden complained again as Akiza gave a giggle and Yusei laughed openly, despite looking similar to a mummy.

"I know you probably have plenty of questions Jaden, but those are going to wait until tomorrow, I'm exhausted and have much better ideas on what to use my remaining energy for, so goodnight." Yusei told Jaden as he scooped Akiza up bridal style from the couch and headed to their shared room. Jaden only gave a chuckle, to be young again. He did have questions for the two, but they could wait one night, Yusei and Akiza had made their move, all that was left now was to see how the eternal darkness responded.

For the first time in years Jaden felt Yubel stirring deep within his soul, the time was coming for the world to be defended again, and while he wouldn't be at the front of the charge again, he would do his best to support those who were, because Yubel wasn't the only entity he felt stirring, and when IT stirred, things tended to go straight to hell.

 **POV shift**

Carly Carmine was a woman on a mission. She was a reporter, and a good one at that, but she had the tendency to stumble into things she shouldn't.

It was in one of those situations almost a year ago she met Jack Atlas for the first time, not the champion, but the man. She had been doing a piece on a local hospital when she noticed a man in what was clearly a disguise slip into one of the rooms, there she saw the champion, a tall cold forceful man who struck down his foes with unrelenting fury, become warm and compassionate at the hands of a seven year old girl.

After he left Carly confronted him and Jack grudgingly told her about his younger sister Rei, who had been diagnosed with severe cancer at a young age. How he struggled to provide for her in the Satellite, and how Goodwin promised to provide the best medical care for her as long as he won matches for him. Jack had accepted instantly, and his dueling career had begun.

The two continued to meet in secret at the hospital, becoming friends, Jack had even told Carly she was the only person he considered a friend in the whole city. Those words had set Carly's heart a flutter, she had fallen for the loving older brother she saw, as well as the cold duelist he portrayed in front of everyone else.

But Jack never noticed, he used his fame to sleep with dozens of other women, and while it hurt Carly, she knew they were only flings, and hoped that someday Jack would see her as more than her friend.

It was three days before his duel with the Stardust Demon that Jack had called explained how he knew the man in the past, and knew how powerful he was. He made Carly promise that if he lost that she would get his sister out of the hospital and to a safe house he had spent years preparing for his sister to continue to receive the last of the treatment needed to cure her of her cancer.

Carly had watched the match in awe from the reporters section of the duel stadium, and she was blown away by how powerful Jack truly was. But it was all for naught. When the Demon pulled out the little orange monster to fuse with his dragon and the two vanished, Carly knew it was over. She knew in her heart that this wasn't a match Jack was going to win, so she sprinted out of the arena, ignoring the taunts of a rival reporter, and made her way to the hospital, meeting with her duel partner on the way.

The two got into the hospital quickly enough and to Rei quickly enough. Rei quickly changed from her hospital gown and the two slipped out of the room, that was where the problems began.

Officer Trudge, a large burly man who was among Goodwin's top enforcers was waiting with his partner just down the hall, blocking the main exit. Carly knew why he was there.

"Rei, I want you to run to the back exit, go to this address, Jack should be there recovering from his fight, get there and he'll protect you, I'll stall for time as best I can, now run." Carly told the girl and she sprinted off towards the exit, unaware Carly had sent five little duel sprites following her as an extra protection.

"Move kid." Trudge said in a dark voice as he and Carly stood facing each other in the narrow hallway, all the doctors and nurses had run off, sensing the impending fight. Rei had made it to the back stairwell and vanished.

"Not happening buddy, you want the girl, you have to go through me." Carly knew she was bluffing, she was nowhere good enough to beat a seasoned law enforcement officer, but she had to give Rei as much time as she could to get to Jack, and from there, he would handle things.

"Big words, now let's see if you can back them up." Trudge growled and raised his arm and sleek metal chains shot from the floors at Carly, who leapt backwards to avoid them. Sending a pulse of her magic into her partner, who grew to the full sized Fortune Lady Light.

Trudge turned his attention to the monster who had started using her staff to shoot magic blasts at him at a rapid pace, leaving Carly an opportunity to strike the man herself, shooting a gale force of wind through the tight hallway, blasting Trudge back into the far wall, leaving a large dent in the wall.

"Not bad girly, but it's not good enough." Trudge growled and sent a magic shot to his own partner, who swelled in size, revealing Goyo Guardian, holding his sai loosely.

Goyo guardian jumped into action, a quick jump step and threw his roped sai directly at Fortune Lady Light, nailing her in the forehead. Lady Light was knocked 20 feet backwards and reverted back into human form, a small blonde girl, maybe six or seven.

"You're nothing little girl, and since you've kept me from doing my job, I think I'll show you how outmatched you really are." Trudge gloated while Carly scooped up her injured partner.

Trudge lifted a chunk of stone from the floor of the hospital and compressed into into a large metal cannon ball. Goyo Guardian shot forward and used it's palms to send it Carly faster than any cannon. Carly went to dodge, but her legs had become entangled in more of Trudge's chains.

All Carly could do was brace herself and try and shield her partner as the cannon shot struck and sent her flying down the rest of the hallway and through the wall, sending her falling from the seventh floor down to the mist covered street below. The last thing Carly remembered before blacking out were faint in her head and her body hitting the street and ground lifelessly.

 **POV shift**

Dominic had slipped the men who had been following him easy enough, there was a natural mist about he added to it with a little magic, making it near impossible to see without aid.

The ending of the fortune cup had been a pleasant surprise, Goodwin was sure to go through a smear campaign, and if some of the things he had heard were to believed, he had already done a runner. But that was a personal victory, the true victory came from the moving of pieces.

Whether they knew it and not, the masked duo, Akiza and Yusei, had started to change the chess board. Instead of following predictable moves, they moved in erratic ways, their methods were destructive, with no care for anyone but themselves. Even Wiraqocha Rasca admitted they would be fantastic dark signers, but sadly they were signers, which meant they were targets, but Dominic would try to leave them to others, at the very least he refused to fight Akiza again, when they were all a part of the Arcadia Movement she was like a sister to him, a sister he had hurt deeply. Dominic refused to hurt the only member left of his family.

As he continued towards the docks where he could hitch a ride to the Satellite, he saw a girl laying on the ground, broken and bleeding. Surrounding her were six duel sprites, all trying to rouse her, but she simply lay on the ground unresponsive.

"Noble sprites, she is dead and gone, while she may have been a friend she is gone now." Dominic tried to console the sprites, but they ignored him, making high pitched chirping sounds.

Dominic started to walk away when he felt it, the dark energy resonating through the air, coming from the fallen form of the girl. Dominic gave a small soft laugh, luck was truly on his side today. He could feel the two awaken in Satellite and he now bore witness to the birth of the final dark signer. All the pieces were in place.

Dominic carefully lifted the broken girl, whose wounds were just starting to heal, and gestured for the duel sprites to follow. He had a few powerful men to intimidate, and one more ally to secure before he could make his own move, but his newly enhanced senses told him he was already on a ship, making the same pilgrimage he was about to.

Goodwin had been playing both sides of the board for far too long, it was time for him to take his place as the Black King, to direct the forces Goodwin would never be able to, the ones Jaden Yuki was too afraid to control.

 **Well, that was short and crappy and mostly side characters, but oh well, timeline needed to move along. Next chapter will be Crow's story since the Enforcers split.**

 **I am prepared for all the hate I'm going to get for humanizing Jack, but I had to do something, he is still a smug arrogant asshole with an ego bigger than Exodia, but he has a backstory and can be compassionate, in a limited fashion.**

 **Happy reading and don't flame me too hard -Centurion Africanus**


	21. Chapter 21-the next step

**I don't own Yugioh**

If Crow knew only one thing, it was how to run. He learned at a young age to run away after he stole things. He stole to survive and because it was fun, sure he got in a lot of trouble for it, but it made him feel alive.

When he grew into his magic, he incorporated that into his act too, using the feathery darkness to coat himself and his surroundings. His favorite tool was creating pitch feathery wings to fly, and oh what a sensation it was. Crow's wings opened a world of possibilities. It was with these wings he met the rest of the enforcers and together they took back the Satellite from the scum that lived in every alley.

But that all fell apart when they challenged Sector Security. Crow was against the idea from the start, saying that they would help keep the streets clean now that the enforcers worked so hard to clean. Kalin was of the opposite mindset, saying that sector security was just another gang, one that tried to bully all of Satellite. Jack and Yusei were mediators of the argument. Both trying to convince Kalin and Crow to agree on a single course of action. In the end Crow caved when Kalin threatened to take all of sector security on alone if he had too.

So Yusei planned, and they fought hard, and in the end, sector security was forced out of Satellite, but while the others celebrated, Crow worried, there was no doubt that Rex Goodwin wouldn't allow this to go unpunished, and he was right.

When reinforcements came, they came in force, led by Goodwin himself. Crow and the others prepared, Crow's black wings flaring out behind him, but then things went wrong. Crow felt darkness creeping into his vision, his vision went completely black, he couldn't see, he couldn't hear, he couldn't feel anything. So he did what he did best, Crow ran as fast and as far as he could until he collapsed.

When Crow woke up, he could only remember his own name. He was at an old pier, surrounded by a group of ten or fifteen children, who were watching him warily.

It took a while for trust to grow, but Crow grew to be an older sibling to all the children, keeping them safe from the thugs that wandered the Satellite, who would run from him half the time when they saw him, but Crow didn't mind, he figured it had something to do with the many sector security marks on his face.

When a tournament was announced with free passage out of the Satellite, Crow was dead set against the idea, but the kids all wanted him to go, to prove he was the best. So Crow reluctantly agreed to participate.

That was when things first went wrong, the masked duo. Crow got out of their way as fast as he could using his magic, shooting himself up in the air and floating on a platform of feathery darkness. He watched as the two obliterated every single person in the arena with surgical precision, their teamwork was nearly flawless, and it looked familiar to Crow, specifically the man with the silver wind.

Crow took his chance while they were distracted, sending a blast down on the girl, but what followed was the worst beating he had ever received, and the things they said triggered the latent memories within his mind.

After his kids carried him back to the pier, he spent the next few nights haunted by his missing memories. So much was missing, and the silverwind man was key to it. Crow watched the fortune cup with his kids on an old beat up TV he had fixed, he watched the duo decimate the competition. He felt the same stirring within his mind as he watched the duels, the dark energy flowing around Executioner's Bane, the fiery raw power emanating from Jack Atlas, and the raw talent and precision from the masked man who called himself the Stardust Demon.

They tried to arrest him after, his name and face were given to the world, but he flipped the script, turning it back on Sector Security. After that a news report went on. It was about the history shared between the demon, Yusei Fudo, and Jack Atlas. There was a short video showing the two of them fighting together, their mighty dragon's at their backs.

There were two other duelists fighting too. One was Executioner's Bane, the other, the other was himself. Tearing through dozens of Sector Security's finest. All while enjoying the freedom of a pair of pitch black wings.

Crow was reeling from the overload of new information. He replayed the scenes from the TV to himself over and over again. The feathery quality his magic had taken, the magnificent black wings he used. It took every ounce of his concentration to get even a simple attack to take on the feathery quality, but now he knew he could do more.

Crow needed time to think and told the kids to stay by the pier while he took some time to think. Crow went to the one place he felt at peace in the Satellite, the Daedalus Bridge.

Street legend says a man had begun building the bridge completely by himself, but Sector Security came and arrested him, on direct orders from Rex Goodwin himself, and he was never seen again. Crow walked to the edge of the incomplete bridge, letting the wind blow through his spiked orange hair.

Crow enjoyed the silence for as long as he could, but his moment of peace was cut short by three cloaked men.

"Well well well, what have we here. I do believe we caught a poor little duelist alone at night." the tall and wiry man said in a mocking tone, drawing a laugh from his much shorter companion.

"That is true, but he is much more than that. We came tonight to greet our brothers and sister in the darkness, but we also get the juiciest of morsels trapped in my web tonight. The bulkiest of the three men said, his voice sending shivers down Crow's spine.

"No need to worry yourselves with me, I'll just be leaving, I have a knitting class you see, and I simply can't be late." Crow insisted in a mock serious tone, his eyes darting around rapidly, looking for any way out, but there was none as the cloaked men waited for him at the base of the bridge.

"There's no need to hurry, we won't take long, you'll be dead before you know it little fly." The large man said again, raising his hand at Crow, who panicked. The laughs of the other cloaked men ringing in his ears. Crow put all of his magic into defending himself, bracing for the impact as a shield formed around him.

When the strike hit, it shook Crow to his bones, but he held firm. Several more impacts hit the shield before it finally dropped, leaving crow exhausted and defenseless.

"I'm impressed, even in the pitiful state you are in you still managed to repel my attacks, well done little signer, but you are alone, partnerless and unawoken. This is your swan song, the end of the line, goodbye pitiful fly, your death will assure our victory." The large cloaked man raised his hand again and shot a powerful blast of unrefined pure earth magic struck Crow in the chest, sending him flying off the bridge and into the air, multiple ribs breaking on the impact.

Crow watched as he seemed to fall in slow motion, what little he could remember of his life flashing before his eyes. He saw his kids and could only pray they would be ok without him.

As he was about to close his eyes one final time, a bird call like sound rang in his ears, his eyes shot back open fully as he saw a group of duel sprites circling through the air, the Blackwings. They had been with him since he first woke without his memory, none were his partner, but they stood by his sides, helping him with the little things.

Crow gave a soft smile at them, only twenty feet from the water now and still falling. The sprites began to fly in a circle motion above, raw magic power flowing between them, creating a temporary rift between the human world and the spirit world.

Crow gazed into the spirit world and gasped at what he saw. There were two majestic dragon chained to a pair of large stones. One was snakelike and a light blue, it had a golden chest piece and long flowing teal flowing from its crown.

The other resonated with Crow's own soul. It's legs were more like pincers and it had a beak instead of a normal draconic maw. It's red eyes shone brightly despite being chained. Bust most importantly were it's wings. They were a pale sickly white, hanging loosely at it's side. Like the wings had lost the ability to fly. There were also two figures. One was a short teal haired girl, chained to a rock next to the first dragon, the other was another cloaked figure, this one with womanly curves, guarding both dragons and the girl.

Crow looked into the second dragon's eyes, he felt his very being shake with anticipation, this was his partner, and it needed help.

Crow was ten feet above the water now, and he was drawing on power he didn't know he had. Crow poured his affection for his kids, and he let the confusion that had plagued him since he had lost his memories flow away.

Crow gave a yell as he collided with the water and sent a powerful cannon blast of feathery dark magic through the portal and directly into the weak winged dragon.

Crow could feel the dark magic rip away the bonds holding the dragon in place, he could hear the mighty half draconic roar half bird squawk the dragon gave as it was freed. Crow closed his eyes as he sunk further into the water, a smile adorning his face. He had freed his partner, it was the least he could do in his final moments.

"No Crow, this is not your end yet, remember, who you are and the freedom you held." a soft feminine voice rang through Crow's mind. His partner, she sounded pretty. Crow held on, he focused on the voice and let his magic, his dreams, his freedom flow through him.

The three cloaked men watched as Crow fell into the water, one last shot of power disappearing into the sky.

What they didn't see coming was the giant dragon descending on them like a vengeful dark angel, it's wings a deep black with a center of blood red.

The dragon gave a mighty roar and sent a roar of pure magic energy darkness the the three men, forcing them to shield themselves.

When the dust cleared, the the dragon had disappeared, the dark signers never saw Crow shoot out of the water, a pair of coal black feathery wings coming from his shoulder blades, and when he landed on his dragon, the two vanished, darkness clouding them completely, the night and shadows their eternal ally.

 **Scene change**

Luna had always had a way with spirits. The spirits would swarm to her, crooning and bringing her flowers. Then the mark on her arm appeared and her gift became so much more.

The spirits spoke with her, they were her only friends besides Leo. Her father had been killed and because of that, her mother had always been busy keeping the family multi billion dollar company afloat.

While Luna took refuge with her spirits, Leo had a gift with machines. He built things, little radios, improved remotes for the TV, he even had dreams of building a Duel Runner some day.

It had been a year since she got her mark that Luna started to hear the voice. It was deep and fatherly, urging her to go further and further with her power. To befriend more and more spirits, to journey into the spirit world. Luna refused though, if she left to the spirit world, Leo would be alone, she wouldn't do that to him.

After she had told the voice that, Leo awoke the next morning with a mark on his arm in the shape of a heart. He was thrilled, he was special like Luna, he embraced his mark while Luna remained cautious.

Luna pushed off visiting the spirit world with Leo until he got better with his increased power, but the mark had changed Leo. Instead of building tools and little toys, he started building weapons. Swords, axes, maces. And the voice told him to continue, it made Leo into an armory, a gentle builder to a forgeman, with enough weapons to go to war.

Luna didn't trust the voice, but it kept urging her to visit the spirit world, to take the next step, that Leo was ready. Eventually Luna relented, she used her power and opened a rift between the worlds and her spirit went through, leaving her body behind. Leo tried to follow, but the barrier slammed shut, trapping Luna in the world of the spirits.

It was when she saw the large chained dragon, a dragon whose gaze penetrated her very soul, her partner, that she knew the voice had tricked her, led her straight into a trap, and Luna did what all frightened children do, she ran.

She ran for years, she even found a way to get her spirit back into the human world, but it wouldn't reconnect with her body, her own power, the power she had used to reach the spirit world, was now keeping her captive. Luna steeled her will and returned to where her partner was chained. She tried to use her light magic to break the chains, but nothing happened, the chains even kept her from bonding with her partner.

When the dark cloaked figure came into the clearing with another dragon in chains, Luna tried to fight her, but she was hopelessly overpowered. And she found herself chained to the same rock as her partner and a second dragon, all because of the voice. Luna could only hope Leo wouldn't put too much trust into his mark, that he wouldn't fall into the same trap she had.

When a hole in the world's formed in the sky above her, Luna grew hopeful, but the dark magic strike hit the other dragon, who used the magic to tear through the chains and fly free, out into the human world. So Luna waited until someone came for her, and she could only pray as the chains dug into her skin that Leo wouldn't bear the same chains she did.

 **Scene change**

Yusei and Akiza enjoyed the night after their victory at the Fortune Cup. Jack had been dethroned, Goodwin and Hideo were on the run, taking Lazar with them, Jaden and Joey had started a massive clean up in Sector Security, removing Goodwin's men and arresting them for abusing their power as law enforcement officers. It was chaos, but that chaos was a beautiful thing for the two masked duelists.

The next day though, Jaden brought two other men to meet Yusei and Akiza, Jesse Anderson and Zane Truesdale.

"Ok guys, the three of us have gone over the tapes from the fortune cup, and while you two are good, you still have a long way to go, by the end of this, you're both going to hate all three of us, but you'll be better duelists for it." Jaden told Yusei and Akiza who were relaxing on a couch together, their dragons on the next couch over.

"What do you mean, we won?" Akiza asked, shifting slightly to face the three, Jesse snickered slightly at her.

"You had the element of surprise and intimidation. Now your techniques are known and others will come after you. You think Goodwin will take this lying down, you think that Jack won't try to take his crown back once he completes his evolution. You think there won't be other threats each new and different all gunning for you. You can't rest on your laurels just yet." Zane warned, his gaze unflinching and hard as steel.

"I had to stop new threats four times and that was before I had to be the mediator between the spirit world and this one, and each time I had to develop new techniques and strategies. You two are smart, looking at the old cards for strategies, but someone will catch on eventually, so you need to learn a few new tricks." Jaden added, his friendly visage falling, revealing the man who single handedly saved the world, more than once.

"Ok then, bring it." Yusei said, hopping off the couch with Akiza, their two dragons getting up as well.

"Good, first is individual training, Zane and Jesse have dragon partners, so the four dragons are going to train by themselves, Yusei will train with Zane and Akiza, Jesse will work with you, I have to go clean up the political mess the two of you made." Jaden said, already heading to his office.

The four dragons headed out while Jesse and Akiza went to the basement training facility and

Zane took Yusei to the training grounds outside.

 **With Jesse and Akiza**

"Ok Akiza, or Black Rose Witch, whichever you prefer, you're a damn good duelist, and your psychic powers can take out most people in a single hit, but your biggest weakness is fire magic. I've seen the tapes, reverting to standard earth magic is good in principle, but against someone like Goodwin or Jack Atlas, that won't cut it, you need to play to your strengths to be able to beat them." Jesse told Akiza in his southern drawl.

"Fire burns plants, that's all there is to it, I can't use any kind of metal, and hot enough fire would melt that anyway." Akiza countered

"True, but that's not all earth magic can do." Jesse said and tossed Akiza a textbook.

"Geology?" Akiza asked, reading the cover.

"Yup, there are hundreds of different minerals that resist fire, if you can find one that resonates with your magic, you'll be able to craft it into your vine and rose style." Jesse said, smirking.

"How do you know I'll be able to do it, I've never heard of an earth mage being able to use crystals?" Akiza asked, still looking at the textbook like it was a foreign object.

"I've found every earth mage can use at least one kind of mineral, to be able to use more than one is a gift. My speciality just so happens to be precious gems." Jesse said, raising his hand and revealing a circle of gems floating around it.

"Now lesson number one, try and survive." Jesse said, shooting the genms at Akiza, who tried to throw up a vine wall, but the gems cut right through it, leaving stinging cuts on her arms and legs.

"The only thing that can stop my crystal is one of your own, so crack open that textbook and dodge while you can!" Jesse laughed good naturedly while Akiza flipped open the textbook and flipped through it quickly, all while dodging gem bullets from Jesse.

 **With Zane and Yusei**

"Yusei, the biggest flaw in your fighting is your lack of teamwork with the monsters that aren't Star." Zane told Yusei, the two having a staredown while various duel sprites floated around both of them.

"They don't have the same resonance level as me and Star, so it makes sense that they wouldn't fight as well." Yusei said, still matching Zane's cold gaze.

"That's your first problem, you're not believing in your friends, Jaden would knock you across the field if he heard you talking like that. Your second problem is the typing. Star is a dragon, all the other monsters who like to hang around you are all machines, they fight differently than Star does, you command them like you would a dragon, hit and run tactics combined with ranged attacks. Machines are meant to be tanks, brawlers, they take hits and dish them right back at you. You use them as paper cannons, all offense, no defense." Zane lectured, Yusei slowly understanding what Zane meant.

"That's why Jack was able to tear through them so quickly, they were only half as strong as they should have been." Yusei said, remembering how easy it was for Jack to tear through his friends.

"Exactly, and that's not all you need to work on. the fusion synchro you pulled with Star and Junk Synchron, for anyone who's been in that kind of situation before, it was obvious you were grasping at straws, a final gambit. When you and Star train together later, you need to practice those transformations and find other little monsters to fuse with Star." Zane instructed, his feet sliding into a stance.

"Now for some practice, you can't move or use magic except to power your machine friends, try play to their strengths." Zane said, a blast of energy forming in his hands.

That night, both Akiza and Yusei were exhausted. When Jaden greeted them from their training, they both sent him death glares that he laughed off. Yusei and Akiza slept well that night, feeling stronger despite the pain they both were in.

 **Done, backstories and training, next chapter will be more of the same, introductions to some new power ideas, although I'll save the new power reveals for actual fights.**

 **Next chapter will also be dark signer heavy, which means shit is going to get real. I have fights planned out and they're going to be epic, just wait and see. Favs and follows wanted, reviews are welcomed.**

 **Happy Reading -Centurion Africanus**


	22. Chapter 22- the gauntlet is thrown

**I don't own Yugioh**

 **3rd person POV**

Three cloaked figures were recovering from a surprise dragon strike when a fog rolled in from the sea.

"A dramatic entrance then, how nice, our 'leader' seems to have a flair for the dramatic." the bulky cloaked man said as he flipped back his hood, revealing the face of Roman Goodwin, the older brother of the man who had just been put on the run by Yusei Fudo.

"I see you three have already gathered, how nice, but there is the seventh, I was told she was with you?" a cloaked man walked across the water towards Roman and his two companions, who flipped back their hoods to reveal the faces of Lazar and Hideo Izinski.

"She is holding a signer captive within the spirit world, with it's partner." Roman replied, taking in the three figures that were walking across the water towards him.

The first he recognized as Executioner's Bane from the tournament, his partner following behind him quietly, no longer the excited spirit that had been present at the tournament.

The second was a child. She was being circled by five duel sprites while a sixth and larger spirit followed behind her, a tall and stately woman holding a staff, a dark aura coming from her. The little girl also was dragging a large bag behind her, skipping as she made her way onto dry land.

The final figure was the leader. While the cloak obscured his face, his partner was not covered. The pale spirit gave way to the man behind the hood, Dominic, the Ice Lord and his partner, Whiteout.

"I see, that is good, Rasca is pleased." Ice Lord replied, stepping onto dry land across from the three Dark Signers.

"Rasca, the supposed leader of the Earthbound Immortals, but Uru had told me otherwise, I am the leader here boy, and if you wish to challenge me then I shall crush you underfoot." Roman told him, signaling his partner to step forward. In human form, the spirit looked like a teenage punk girl, lanky and with a purple mohawk, but with a little magic from Roman, she transformed into a large light purple spider with cannon like protrusions from her back, bright orange patterns ran through her body. A monster known as the Mother Spider.

"I see, what foolish thoughts, your brother believes himself above his superiors as well, I guess arrogance runs in the family." Dominic said dryly and he flicked his wrist. Ice formed around the Mother Spider, turning her into a large ice cube, at the same time the other two dark signers at his sides sprang into action.

The little girl sprang into the air, still lugging her large bag around and landing on Hideo's back, a blade made of wind held in her hand at his throat, drawing a little blood as she giggled.

Executioner's Bane had simply raised his arm and spears of darkness formed around Lazar, trapping his arms at his side.

"I am in charge Roman Goodwin, you may have made the first move with your little reactor, but I alone have the power to finish this, your machinations will not come to pass, you are but a servant to the shadows, I am their voice, their champion. I lead the dark signers now, and if you try to move against me, I will cut your mark off and give it to someone more worthy of it's power, am I clear?" As Dominic spoke, ice began to form across Roman's body, forcing him to his knees.

"As you wish." he managed through gritted teeth and the frost fell away. Kalin withdrew his shadows and the little girl lept off Hideo's back, still lugging her bag behind her, giggling the whole way.

"Good, I'm glad we could have this little talk, now come, I have a plan to put into place and signers to slaughter, the shadows will rule." Dominic said as he set off at an even pace towards the reactor, the grimace on his face hidden by the shadows of his cloak.

 **Shift 3rd person POV**

Akiza and Yusei were flowing as they sparred. Each vine Akiza would send at Yusei would either be cut before it could hit it's target, or tanked by one of the machine juggernauts Yusei had summoned. Each swift strike Yusei sent at Akiza was met with a steadfast defense, no longer did Akiza rely solely on offense and dodging, but now had a defense to utilize to wear opponents out.

It had taken some time, but Akiza had discovered she could utilize onyx to form her attacks, but she could only channel it to the flower parts of her attacks, not the vine.

Yusei had also made leaps and strides, finding three more tuner monsters to fuse with Star as well as learning how to properly fight with machine monsters. Now the two sparred with a renewed ferocity, each out to prove to the other how much they had grown.

"That's enough for now you two, we have some things to discuss." Jaden called from a balcony above where they were practicing, then walking back into the house.

The two lovers met Jaden and their two dragons inside, flopping down on one of the couches as Jaden smiled at them. He was proud of the progress they had made, they would go far in life, if they could survive the coming storm.

"First things first." Jaden said and tossed three small cylinders to Yusei. "Those are power storage devices, Akiza found a few tuner monsters as well, if you fill those up with your magic, she'll be able to have an ace in the hole as well, just in case you two get separated." Jaden said, and Yusei quickly filled the magic batteries, and handed them to Akiza, who took them with a smile and gave Yusei a long kiss, drawing a groan from Jaden.

"Next, my contact within the shadow realm says things are stirring, which means whatever dark force is behind Goodwin is growing stronger, and it's originating from the Satellite. From what I've learned is those red dragon marks you two have are the key to fighting it. And that means working with the others with the mark, no matter the personal history." Jaden told them as Yusei and Akiza groaned.

"I've got no idea where Jack or Leo vanished to after the tournament, but I've chartered a boat to Satellite and I've got a feeling that those two will be on it, and so will both of you." Jaden told the grumbling lovers.

"You two have gotten better, that much is true, but always remember, your greatest strength is your faith in each other and your partner's." Jaden told the two.

"You and Neos pounded that into our heads already Jaden, we got it." Akiza complained and leaned into Yusei's side, who chuckled.

"I'm glad I got the point across then, I've got my own job to do while you are in Satellite though, I've been tipped off to an unbalance there so I won't be there to back you guys up, but I'm sure you'll be fine." Jaden told them, getting up from his own seat on the couch across from them.

"We'll be on that ship Jaden, count on it." Yusei said, pulling Akiza onto his lap with a smirk, then giving her a long kiss.

"At least wait until I'm out of the room, geez." Jaden complained, covering his eyes and leaving the room, chuckling all the while.

 **Shift 3rd person POV**

Jack Atlas watched as another duelist collapsed in front of him. He had snuck out of the city after he lost to Yusei, riding his duel runner to a rundown western mining town where he proceeded to face as many duelists as he could, all without using Blaze. For too long he had depended on his partner to overpower his opponents and neglected to train himself, but no longer.

Since duels only happened at sundown, Jack spent the rest of his days in the desert, forcing himself to use as much hellfire at he could, then forcing himself further, soul fire. He had only managed it once, but Jack could feel it was the key to completing Blaze's transformation.

That's when the voice came, directing him to a different source of power. The voice came from his mark, the entity of the dragon itself. It gave him power, but Jack was still wary, but the dragon didn't push, it told him the power would be there if he needed it, he just needed to accept it. It also told Jack he needed to find a way back to Satellite, that a darkness was brewing there, one he needed to fight to become stronger.

Jack quickly found a ship chartered by Jaden Yuki himself leaving in a week's time. That was the ship he would be on, one he could feel Yusei would be on as well. He had grown stronger, he would defeat the darkness, then he would take his title back from Yusei. All while he thought this, he felt something tingling at the back of his mind, there was something he was forgetting, the question was what.

 **Shift 3rd person POV**

Leo was in the junkyard just outside New Domino City, practicing with Gear, building new and different equipment, as well as strengthening his own body. Gear had won his fight, he had defeated a powerful dragon, it was Leo who was the weak link, and he was going to change that.

It was while they were training that another dragon landed nearby. Leo and Gear went to investigate, finding a scantily clad woman and an unconscious orange haired man with a glowing crimson mark on his arm.

It took almost a day before the man roused and Leo and his partner, a dragon named Gale, explained everything to him. The boy, Crow, was confused at first but went with it, he had just regained all his memories, so a giant ancient dragon bestowing him power to fight equally ancient and powerful shadow monsters could be believable.

Crow was careful though, unlike Leo, he didn't trust the power that his mark gave him, it felt slimy, corrupted, wrong in some way. He told Gale and the dragon told him it was his decision to use the power and not, if he didn't feel comfortable with it, then they would find a way to defeat the shadows without it.

When the dragon's voice told Leo the two of them needed to find a way to the Satellite, Crow's gut told him it was a trap, but he went along with the kid's plan to hitch a ride on Councilman Yuki's boat to Satellite, Leo had grown on him as they trained together, and he helped Crow regain all his skill with the feathered dark magic he could utilize and then some, Crow could see the kid becoming a champion when he was older.

So they two of them snuck to the docks when it came time, stumbling into a dangerous staredown.

Jack Atlas, with Blaze at his back was staring down Yusei Fudo and Akiza Izinski, each with their own partners at their backs.

"Well, this looks tense." Crow said, making his and Leo's presence known to the three powerhouse duelists.

"What do you know, carrot top shows up again." Akiza quipped, glancing over at the two.

"Yup, and my little friend and I were hoping to hitch a ride over to Satellite with you all if that's alright with you." Crow said, giving a crooked smile as Leo was starstruck at the three powerful duelists in front of him.

That was when the marks on each of their arms decided it was a good time to light up in all their crimson glory, all five watched the others carefully, watching the marks fade back to their unlight tattoo state.

"Well, to the Satellite then, to face this 'shadow of darkness'?" Yusei said, leading the way onto the ship followed by the others, all tense for what was to come.

The day long journey by ship was tense as Jack sequestered himself and Blaze below deck, making last minute touch ups on his duel runner that he had repaired, it wasn't as fast and durable as Yusei had first made it, but it would work in a duel.

Akiza and Yusei, as well as their dragons, had holed up in two of the rooms on board, leaving Leo, Crow, and their partners free roam of the nice ship.

When the ship made land in Satellite, they were met by six cloaked figures, each backed by a cloaked duel spirit.

"You have come, welcome signers, to our playground." the lead figure said, his cloak a deep purple like the other, but edged with white.

"Well, this is much more direct than I was expecting, here I was thinking you were going to play hide and seek with us." Yusei said, carefully surveying the cloaked figures in front of him, two were rather short, another two, including the leader looked to be of average size and the last was a more muscular man.

"Yes that would be something shadows traditionally do, but I have a challenge for you signers." the lead figure spoke softly, but Yusei could feel the power behind his voice.

"There are four reactor towers scattered throughout the Satellite, each drawing power to the main Ener-D reactor at the center of Satellite. I will station one of my dark signers at each reactor tower and one at the main reactor. Your job will be to destroy each of the towers, then disable the main reactor, if you fail to destroy even one tower, the reactor will not shut down, and if you fail to shutdown the main reactor, I will activate it, tearing a breach into the shadow world, letting loose the nightmares humanity has long forgotten, ones that the Supreme King has no control of, the Earthbound Immortals shall once again rule the world, and you all will be slaughtered, signers incapable of sealing away the darkness again, and we shall rule a reborn world."

"And if we decline your challenge." Jack scoffed, glaring at the leader.

"Then we shall fight here and now, where you are out numbered and will certainly loose, for I will not fight at a reactor, you will all have to come to me after you have finished, now make your choice." the leader of the dark signers said, Jack went to speak, but Akiza cut him off.

"We'll take your challenge then, and grind your little followers into the dirt while we do it." she said, glaring at him.

"Then the gauntlet has been thrown, let the battle for the fate of the world begin." And with that, all the dark signers vanished into a fog that rolled in suddenly, leaving the signers alone on the pier.

"Plan time, now." Yusei said, unfurling his map of the Satellite.

After a long debate, it was decided that Yusei would take the main reactor, Akiza would take the West tower, Jack the East, Leo the North and Crow the South.

The next morning, all five set out to their targets, unaware of the puppetmaster behind the scenes, smirking at his success.

 **Short and sweet prelude to some EPIC fights. First fight is going to be Leo vs one of the dark signers, so look for that next chap. Jaden has his own mission as well and that will be interesting as well.**

 **Sorry to all my readers though, playing football can result in injuries and I got seriously concussed, messed up my head pretty bad, hurt to think and even look at a screen, worst kind of injury ever. I'm back now though, which means posting will pick back up again, but may be slow until mid October when my season will probably end.**

 **Happy reading -Centurion Africanus**


	23. Chapter 23

**I don't own Yugioh**

 **3rd person POV**

Jaden walked through his now empty house, pondering. Yusei and Akiza had just left for the ship he scheduled, leaving him free to speak with his dark side. He walked to a shadowed pool he kept in his basement, looking at his reflection in the water, except, it wasn't him looking back.

The supreme king would always be a part of him, and since he had melded that part of him with Yubel, it was a part of him he could work alongside instead of against. It also gave the king Yubel's mind instead of just being a corrupting force, driving him into insanity slowly.

"Yubel, I need to visit the shadow world." Jaden told his long time partner, who nodded back from within the pool.

"It is Jaden, you have spent too much time mending the destruction wrought to the human and spirit world's that you forgot the damage was mainly dealt to the shadow realm, your realm." It would always be strange to hear Yubel's voice coming from his own black armored reflection, but he agreed with her, he had been slacking in his duties, and for the sake of his students if nothing else he would fix what he could.

"I know Yubel, but it's time to fix that, let's go." Jaden said and he fell into the pool, and not a ripple spread as he hit the surface and fell into the world's beyond the mortal plane.

Jaden traversed the shadow realm quietly, his black armor gleaming in the pale reflected light. Even if he was king here, he wasn't a loved leader, he could put down shadow creatures of all shapes and sizes except for _them_. The ancient beings, the original shadows, the beings who touched Zorc Necrophades and led him down his dark path to destruction. They were the original whispers of pain and loss, driving countless men and women to slaughter and despair. Jaden had always been careful to avoid where they were imprisoned, lest they corrupt him as their essence leaked.

And now they were breaking free, if his guess was right, then all of them were free within the shadow realm and slowly gaining power. That was where he came it, Jaden was going to make sure that shadow beings of that power and might were unable to break free from his realm, police them as best he could. But first he felt shadows running free in the spirit world, that he needed to fix.

So Jaden traveled through the shadow realm and slipped through a small crack between the world's and found himself in a large spirit forest. The first sign he was in the right place was the complete lack of spirits present.

Jaden continued on, feeling for the shadows that were loose in the spirit world. When he had found them he set off at an even pace, his armor having dissipated after he left the shadow realm.

As Jaden neared the source of the shadows, he slowed to catch his breathe and make a stealthy approach.

In a clearing at the heart of the forest lay a large stone, and chained to that stone was a large blue dragon with pixie wings and a glowing mane of mint green hair.

Next to the large rock was a smaller rock, this one styled like a cross, tied and gagged to it was a small girl with hair matching the dragon's tied in twin pigtails. Standing guard over them was a black and yellow bordered woman and her machine spirit partner.

Jaden glared at the woman, to do something like this to a child was unforgivable, of course, how they both got into the spirit world was another question.

Jaden made a slight hand signal and proceeded out from his hiding spot into the sunlight of the clearing, foregoing stealth entirely.

"You know, I think this could easily be misunderstood as sexual abuse." Jaden said casually, but his eyes were taking in everything at a rapid pace.

"Jaden Yuki, the only man alive aside from the signers with the power to defeat us, what a surprise, I thought for sure it would be this little bitch's brother who came, not you." the woman said in a sultry tone, hard olive green eyes flashing from under the hood.

The chained girl tried to say something, but it was blocked by the gag and Jaden frowned at the woman. "My responsibility is to keep the shadows at bay, to control them, and while I haven't done the best job, I get the feeling that your people were in part responsible." Jaden said, keeping a close eye on both the cloaked woman and her partner.

"True, on both counts, and now you have stumbled into our web, unprepared, you truly are a foolish man, Jaden Yuki, you know not the power you face." As she spoke, the cloaked woman pointed her arm at her partner, which wore an identical cloak.

Her partner began to glow and grow. The cloak fell off and revealed a writhing mass of shadows, growing and taking the shape of a monkey.

"Rise, twisting shadow of the abyss, Cusillu!" the cloaked woman called and the yellow monkey gave a screech as it finished growing, becoming the size of a skyscraper.

"Well, that just happened." Jaden said carefully, Neos standing strong at his side and Yubel in his shadow.

"Goodbye Yuki, may you rot in the shadows." the cloaked woman said and at her signal, Cusillu shot a blast of shadows from its mouth at Jaden and his partners.

The shot connected and the explosion shook the entire forest.

Luna had spent a long time trapped alongside her partner, the Ancient Fairy Dragon who went by Fey. She was a gentle dragon for the most part, just as Luna was a kind person, but they both agreed that the dark cloaked woman and her partner were going down if they ever got the chance.

When Jaden Yuki, savior of the spirit realm and considered the most powerful duelist of all time, Luna allowed hope to fill her for the first time since becoming trapped. But that hope had since died as she watched Jaden get his by the cannon of shadow energy.

"That was easy, all talk and no talent." the cloaked woman scoffed, turning away from where Jaden once stood.

"Well, that was quite the impressive blast, shame it didn't work, what else do you have?" Jaden said as the dust cleared, completely untouched. The cloaked figure and Luna stared at him, stunned. Jaden allowed a smirk to form, silently thanking Yubel for absorbing the blast and slipping back into his shadow.

"Well well, I guess I have a fight on my hands." the cloaked woman smirked, an aura of white emitting from her. "Come at me with everything you have Jaden Yuki, it's time for you to be consumed by the shadows you think you rule."

Jaden rolled his shoulders once, completely ignoring the dark signers taunting. Boxing gloves of light forming around his hands Jaden and Neos jumped at the woman in perfect sync, only to be cut off as Cusillu stomped in front of them, protecting the dark signer.

Luna watched as Jaden fought the monstrosity with Neos, the two working in perfect well practiced sync. But it wasn't working. Jaden was seemingly immune to the cannon shots of darkness that Cusillu was letting off, but he wasn't able to land a solid hit while dodging the club like punches. Neos could hit and was taking chunks out of Cusillu, but the shadows would just knit themselves back together, leaving no sign the behemoth of darkness had ever been hit.

"Jaden, this isn't working." Yubel whispered to Jaden from his shadow as Jaden backflipped over a strike.

"I know Yubel, but I don't know what to do, never really had to fight against anything this big since the sacred beasts, and I had help both times I fought them." Jaden said sending a gattling shot of light at the monkey, who didn't even notice, the shots just dissolving into it's monstrous body.

"Then get help Jaden." Yubel said, gesturing to the chained girl, who was watching the fight closely.

"Good point, I don't think she'll be trying another one of those shadow blasts so you free the girl and her dragon while Neos and I take care of big and ugly." Jaden told Yubel.

"If you insist." Yubel sighed, knowing full well it was impossible to talk Jaden out of playing the hero.

Yubel sulked off as a shadow across the ground as Jaden reengaged Cusillu. Yubel quickly made her way to the girl and smashed the chain holding her down before moving to the dragon and yanking the chains off it.

"Thank you." the girl said in a quiet voice once she had removed the gag from her mouth. Yubel gave a nod and observed the girl, who was rubbing her sore wrists.

"Help us if you can, but stay out of danger, Jaden tends to get upset if children get hurt while he is nearby." Yubel told her in what she thought was a soothing voice, but just unnerved the girl.

And with that, Yubel jumped back into the fray, her demonic left hand wreathed in black energy and her right in a pale gray. But even with a third attacker, Cusillu didn't falter and Jaden began to tire, it had been years since he had last been a serious fight. All it took was one lucky hit from Cusillu and Jaden was sent flying backwards into a tree, cracking multiple ribs. Yubel immediately disengaged to help him, leaving the ever silent Neos to fight the Earthbound Immortal by himself, he was quickly taken out by a blast of shadows.

As a battered Jaden and Neos slowly rose to their feet, the dark signer gave a wicked laugh. "You fought well Yuki, but you will fall before me."

"No he won't, because this isn't real." Luna spoke from atop Ancient Fairy Dragon, looking down at the fight calmly. "I've been stuck here for long enough to know the surroundings, I can feel the very roots of the spirit world. It's much harder to summon an Earthbound Immortal here, to much shadow aura, so you're channeling it."

Jaden's eyes widened and quickly sent a pulse of gray energy through the clearing and Cusillu shattered. Left in its place was a wooden monster with three heads. The left head was of a young boy and the right a girl, but the center head was blank, no features and hair.

"An illusion, and it felt so completely real. I'm impressed, it's been years since something so simple slipped past me." Jaden said, his injuries having faded away after the illusion broke.

"You stupid little girl, I had him, I was so close, and you ruined it. This pitiful meatbag should have just drowned you when you were born." the cloaked figure snarled, flicking back her hood to reveal mint green hair and hard olive eyes glowing a sickly yellow. Luna's breath caught in her throat as she looked at the face of her mother for the first time in years.

"That's right little girl, your mother found out you father was unfaithful to her and she turned to the shadows. She was mine since then. When she found out she was supposed to hurt her precious children, she tried to turn back, to denounce me, but it was too late, I crushed her pitiful mind and took control. Your mother is as good as dead." Cusillu spoke through Luna's mother's body, each word hitting Luna straight to her heart.

"Then it's up to me to avenge my mother then." Luna said, letting her anger slip into her voice, Fey standing strong at her side. "Stay out of this Councilman Yuki, this thing just made it personal." and with that Luna plunged into battle against a wooden illusionist and her possesed mother.

Jaden could only watch as Luna released a blast of golden light magic from her hands into the puppet magician, which crumpled under the intense blast. Ancient Fairy dragon swooped through the air and screeched angrily, the sonic waves of the attack forcing the possessed dark signer to take a knee, covering her ears in pain.

"This ends now, I'm taking my family back!" Luna shouted, collecting the ambient particles from the spirit world into her, relishing in her connection to the plane and she shot a second cannon blast, combining with one Fey shot alongside her.

"Regulus Dragon Cannon!" she yelled and the dual blast crashed into Cusillu and nailed it into the ground.

Fey and Luna landed and Luna jumped off her dragon's back and carefully neared the crater that she had made when blasting her possesed mother.

"I can't believe it, I lost to a mere child." with those last words, the presence of Cusillu faded, leaving a barely conscious woman in its place.

"Luna." she was her last word and she dissolved into a bright light, leaving a tearful Luna alone in the crater.

"The possession was too much for her soul to take, but you freed her in the end, she died as herself." Jaden said to Luna softly, who had slowly walked out of the crater and started absently stroking her dragon's mane of hair.

"But there are others like her, who let one bad thing rule them, control them, and others like me meant to stop them." Luna said in a soft voice as she took comfort from her dragon.

"You're right, and your brother is out there right now trying to stop them, that mark on your arm is the key to it all." Jaden said, gesturing to the claw mark on Luna's arm.

"This mark is a trap, it was this mark that lead me to be captured and held prisoner, Leo, and anyone else who listens to it's voice. Where are they?" Luna still hadn't looked at Jaden, but he knew the girl was in shock, she had just faced down her possesed mother.

"They went to the Satellite, I have to stay here though and make sure once the Earthbound Immortals are defeated, they remained imprisoned within the shadow realm, so go and help them." Jaden said as he Yubel and Neos went back to the shadow realm, Luna jumped onto Fey's head and opened a portal from the spirit world to the Satellite and flew through it.

What neither Jaden nor Luna knew was that everything was going according to plan for one man sitting at a chessboard in the midst of a game. He reached out and moved a white rook backwards and a white bishop forwards to take a black bishop, but in doing so, left the black king wide open.

 **Wow, not my best fight, but Luna was always a character who was never much of a fighter, she always needed something to piss her off to fight effectively. I also though the anime had it wrong to just throw a random guy 'Devack' as a dark signer to face the twins, so I edited that part a little, hopefully it was more interesting.**

 **Next chapter first of the tower battles, Leo vs Lazar. As always, reviews that aren't calling me trash are all welcome.**

 **Happy Reading -Centurion Africanus**


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